Gundam Wing: Gemini
by Kariana Kusanagi
Summary: A singer from the colonies arrives on Earth for a concert, but when she encounters the Gundams, the very foundation she knows just may be torn apart. Faced with what she knows, will she be able to survive the war? Chap. 5 up! Ch. 5 summ: One choice affects everyone, and one slip will cost her everything.
1. The Brown Haired Songstress

Gundam Wing: Gemini

Chapter One: The Brown Haired Songstress

(Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor will I ever want to. I do own a blender, a microwave, and some Starbucks coupons, though, along with Caitlin.)

(AN: This is my first Gundam Wing fanfic, and I figured I'd share it with you guys. It had been a plot bunny that just would not leave me alone for years, so I figured I'd go ahead and write. Flashbacks and feels ahoy.)

~;~;~;~;~

 _A young girl hid in the distance and couldn't move or respond from watching a man of the cloth get smacked for refusing to be involved in the war. Her entire body shook from fear as she felt her arm being grabbed roughly and being dragged into the sanctuary. She screamed for the person to let her go, since his grip was hurting her and scaring her further. Was she going to be hurt?_

 _"Let her go!" the man of the cloth shouted. "She's just a child!"_

 _She looked out with fear-filled eyes as a boy, only one year older than her, stood between the pews. "Brother!" she pleaded._

 _"You want a Mobile Suit?" her brother shouted at him. "I'll get you one! Only if you let her go and don't come back here again!"_

 _The man who had held her arm let her go and watched as the girl scrambled to get as far away from him as possible._

 _The girl looked on as her brother had raced from the church… for what looked to be the last time. She screamed for her older brother…_

 _~;~;~;~;~_

A teenaged girl gasped as she shot up in her bed, her heart racing inside the walls of her chest and her breathing close to erratic. She shot her blue eyes around the room and realized that she wasn't in the church anymore. No gunshots, no blood, and no death. She held her hands to her face as she struggled to calm down from the dream she had. _Father… Sister…_ she thought to herself. _Brother…_

A knock on the door knocked her out of her reverie.

"Are you awake, Miss Caitlin?" a slightly older male voice asked from behind the door.

Caitlin struggled to calm herself down. Never had a dream like that made her feel so… scared. "Yes," she answered with what little strength she had left in her voice as she climbed out of bed and pulled a robe over herself, mostly for comfort and not really for warmth.

The door opened, and a slightly older man walked inside her bedroom carrying a planner. He didn't have many wrinkles, but from the look in his blue eyes, he didn't look a day over fifty. He wore a black suit with a white handkerchief in his breast pocket. "Miss Caitlin, are you cold?" he asked her, concerned that she had a long robe around her.

"No," she answered, trying to smile as she slowly combed her long wavy brown hair. "I'm all right, Michael."

Michael was the name of the assistant that Caitlin had. She would never call him a butler; she never could think of him as such. He had been employed by the family for years and had known Caitlin ever since she was seven years old when she came to live with them. With his age came wisdom, as the saying would go. "Miss Caitlin, you look rather pale," he said, gently turning his eyes to her face. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Telling him yes would make her look like a liar, and telling him no would only make him worry about her more. "I-I guess you could say that," she finally admitted.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows, as he knew why she was trying her hardest not to not tell him but wouldn't say anything. It wasn't his place to pry into her life. "Perhaps tonight, I should make you some tea, miss," he suggested.

Caitlin gently smiled. "Yes, that would be nice," she answered as she looked out her window at the view of the colony below. She could see the gardens, gazebo, and the fountain at her home. The Lane family had always accepted her as one of their own despite that their own child died in childbirth. Part of Caitlin wondered how her brother would have thought if he had been alive to see this, Caitlin in a real home, almost like a princess.

Michael stood against the wall. Noticing how quiet Caitlin had become in a short time only made him worry more. "I'll leave you to get ready for today," he said.

Caitlin nodded silently while Michael bowed and left the bedroom. When she heard the door close, she closed her eyes. It was time for her to start another day.

~;~;~;~;~

Caitlin sat in the backseat of the car, wearing a long sleeved sky blue dress that reached just below her knees, a locket around her neck, and white flat shoes on her feet. Her days always had so much to do in so little time; her singing career had already taken off, but most of her songs had been sad in nature, as if she was missing a person in her life. In truth, she had been, her brother.

Coming back home after vocal lessons and a run-through of a new single always made her feel incomplete. At times, she felt as if she was a visage for people to look at and not really listening to what she was singing, almost like a doll in a glass covered cabinet, just for something for people to see but not much else.

When the car drove past the long-forgotten ruins of a building, Caitlin's eyes slowly welled up with tears. War had taken so much from her already, mainly the people that she cared about, including her older brother. Just thinking about her older brother only seemed to make her look more depressed. The building only started to make her remember the pain and destruction that was there. She shut her eyes to keep from remembering the sounds of screaming, destruction, and shouting that resulted in the building's demise.

Michael looked in the rearview mirror and blinked at the sad look on Caitlin's face. It just didn't suit the sweet girl the public and he knew. "Miss Caitlin?" he asked.

Caitlin blinked and almost immediately dried her eyes with her hands. "Yes?" she asked before she looked up at him.

"It wouldn't do any good to remember the past," Michael said. "All that matters now is the present."

Caitlin tried to smile at those words. Michael always seemed to know some type of sage advice for her. But still, there was one question left unanswered. "I don't understand, though," she answered.

"Don't understand what, miss?" Michael asked as he turned the car towards the home.

"If someone's body wasn't found," she asked. "Do you think there's a chance that person is still alive?"

Michael took a deep breath. Her older brother must have been important to her. "Over two hundred people died that day, Miss Caitlin," he answered. "Some of the bodies were not able to be identified…"

"Was there another child there?" Caitlin interrupted.

"I'm not quite sure, miss," Michael answered, not as surprised that he finally got her to talk. "But considering that most of the deceased were in the area…"

Caitlin simply blinked at him from the back seat, slowly getting to what he was talking about. Over two hundred people had died that day, and judging that most of it came from the surrounding area of the building… _then maybe there's still a chance he's alive after all,_ she thought to herself. But still… one nagging question continued to eat at her. Why didn't he come back?

Michael pulled the car into the driveway with a deep breath. "Miss Caitlin, I'm sorry for what I said earlier," he said.

Caitlin shook her head gently. "No, it's all right," she answered with a smile. "I guess I should be careful what I wish for when it comes to the truth, right?"

Michael chuckled as he pulled the car in front of the Lane home. "I suppose so," he answered. "Your fiancée, Marco, will be arriving in a while before he's deployed to a satellite."

Caitlin blinked. "Mister Marco?" she asked. "I thought he wasn't being deployed until next month…"

Michael turned off the car before he got out and went to open the door for Caitlin. "Yes, well, the military is an unknown place with deploying, miss," he said as he helped Caitlin out of the car.

"Thank you," she said gently as she walked with Michael up the steps to her home.

~;~;~;~;~

From a distance, a young man watched the brown haired songstress exit the car from behind sunglasses. He wore a hat to hide his hair and a coat to disguise himself. He blinked as he watched her turn around to look out towards the street. He felt inside of his coat pocket and felt the cross that he had found long ago. The memory of that discovery was nothing short of sobering…

 _He had sifted through the rubble of the church, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had already died, and through some type of desperation that only he could understand, he pushed through the blackened rubble. He couldn't find her with the others. Maybe she happened to find an air pocket… maybe she was alive._

 _Maybe… she would shout for him to let him know she was alive._

 _His hand grazed something cold and metallic, and when he lifted his hand, his eyes widened in horror._

 _His younger sister's cross necklace. She always wore it and never took it off for nothing, even when she slept._

 _Pushing the necklace into his pocket, he kept searching, desperation coursing through his veins like blood. Maybe she was in shock. Maybe she was just scared and couldn't say where she was. He shouted his sister's name, hoping to hear her voice._

 _He heard nothing but the sound of his own shout coming back to him._

 _He stopped to think for a moment. Maybe, just maybe, she had gotten away and was safe. A troubling thought, but maybe she was all right and safe somewhere away from here._

As he stayed and watched the girl from a distance, he couldn't help but be happy that she had been adopted, something that he had wanted for a long time for her.

He watched the girl with a small smile. _At least she's got a good family now,_ he thought to himself. In truth, he had wanted her to be adopted by a good family, away from the death and destruction that plagued their childhood. Everyone they knew either was killed or hurt, and the last thing he would want was something like that to happen to her.

He turned around and walked away. She looked healthy and alive, the two things he was happy for her. And safe. That was what he was the happiest about for sure, her being safe and away from the plagues of their childhood.

 _She deserves to have a normal childhood,_ he thought as he continued on his way. _I'm glad this worked out just fine._

~;~;~;~;~

Caitlin looked confused at the person that she had seen walk down the street. Who was he? And why was he looking at her?

Michael's voice broke through her thoughts: "Miss Caitlin? Are you all right?"

She blinked up at Michael with a smile. "Yes, I'm fine," she answered as she walked into the house and into the foyer.

When Caitlin had been adopted when she was younger, she thought that the home was like a mansion, and the size had scared her. Her bedroom was bigger than what she had seen before or was used to. Even for holidays like Christmas, the living room was huge to a seven-year-old girl. Now that Caitlin was fourteen years old, she appreciated it more. This was her home now, and while the house stayed the same size, she seemed to grow up very well in the home.

Her adoptive parents, Marshall and Hannah Lane, were nice in that regard. Marshall, however, was a general for the Alliance army who wouldn't tell Caitlin much about the war when she was younger; the girl had dealt with too much to hurt her now. Hannah would help Caitlin as far as education and homeschooling, as well as try to show her how to do some things for herself.

Caitlin wouldn't be considered spoiled by any means; she was like any other teenager growing up, except for the fact that she was a singer on top of a homeschooling student with her life on public display.

"Mr. Michael?" Caitlin asked after the door closed behind them.

"Yes, miss?" Michael answered her before walking to her side.

"Why am I so nervous around him?"

Michael chuckled before he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Caitlin, it's because you love him, is all," he answered with a smile. "Young love is a truly wonderful thing."

"Do you have any advice?" she asked him.

Michael's smile never wavered as he placed his other hand onto her shoulder. "Just continue to be yourself, Miss Caitlin," he answered. "There's a reason why he loves you. He loves how understanding you are considering his dedication to the Alliance forces. A loving, caring person like yourself would be perfect for him."

Caitlin knew that trying to get out of it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. All she could do was smile at Michael and nod her head. "Of course," she answered.

Michael nodded his head. "I'll let you know when he arrives," he said gently.

"All right," she answered and left to go up the stairs to her bedroom.

Michael watched Caitlin leave and sighed. "I certainly hope Miss Caitlin is ready," he said to himself.

"She will be," a female voice came from beside him.

Michael turned and bowed at the lady of the house, who was wearing a long burgundy dress with her brown hair styled on her head. "Ma'am," he said as he straightened his back. "Miss Caitlin seems rather young to marry."

Hannah smiled slightly. "Nonsense," she answered. "Caitlin can grow to love Marco as much as we do. A soldier's life is oftentimes lonely, so for Caitlin to marry him would be ideal for her. She'll have someone to protect her should something happen to her father and myself."

Michael looked stunned at his mistress' words. Should something happen to her husband and herself? Surely not while he was alive!

Hannah blinked at him, giving him a relieved look on her face. "Don't worry, Michael. I'm sure it won't happen for a long time."

"But shouldn't Miss Caitlin have a say in who she marries?" Michael asked. "She is rather young to think of something so permanent."

Hannah tapped her index finger onto her bottom lip. Perhaps Michael did have a point. "All right," she conceded. "However, I can't control how Marco feels for Caitlin. The date hasn't been set yet, so she does have some time to think on it."

Meanwhile, in Caitlin's bedroom, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it with a sigh. Being a singer wasn't as easy as people would say it was, but being engaged to a person who she didn't know much about was probably harder on her than anything she faced after her adoption.

"What would my brother do?" Caitlin whispered to herself.

She shut her eyes as if the answer would come from that alone.

"I'm not ready for marriage… If you were here, Brother, you could stop this…"

Caitlin took a deep breath before opening her eyes and the tears fell. She knew she couldn't get out of it even if she wanted to; her parents had wanted her to be with Marco since she became a singer. Maybe they were looking out for her well-being; having a man to protect her when things go wrong didn't sound too bad, but it was akin to a toddler putting a hand near the stove. It was dangerous to trust someone she didn't know.

She was used to the spotlight by now, but as it stood with Marco, she wasn't sure whether she could go through with it. She had been told that marriage was a permanent decision, but at the moment, she felt as if the choice was made for her.

A knock on her bedroom door made Caitlin dry her eyes.

"Miss Caitlin?" Michael's voice came from the other side. "Marco's here's to see you."

 _Might as well make the best of it,_ she thought as she steadied herself. "Of course," she answered. "I'm on my way."

~;~;~;~;~

Marco Young was a young person around Caitlin's age, with black hair and brown eyes and in a green Alliance uniform. While it seemed unorthodox for two young people to marry, Marco had no problem with it. Praising Caitlin on her appearance, her voice, and even her clothing options was part of why he cared about her. Another altogether was the main reason he cared more for her than anyone.

"I'm sorry if the muffins weren't that great," Caitlin said apologetically. She had been so distracted from earlier that day that she had forgotten to add the sugar into the dessert muffins she had made.

Marco shook his head and gently took her hands into his own. "No, I rather enjoyed them," he answered, trying to inflate the deflated look on her face that didn't suit her at all. "I've never had sugar-free muffins before, but they were just fine."

Caitlin blinked up at him, a puzzled look on her face.

"Any woman who makes that much of an effort to make dessert should be proud of herself," Marco continued with a smile. "Cooking is a lot like fighting, Miss Caitlin. It takes a lot of time, patience, and energy to get it right, although no one can be perfect. If you want, one day I'll show you."

Caitlin gently smiled, taking Marco's words to heart. It wasn't that she didn't try; she was just scared that since it didn't come out right, he would be upset. As it turned out, he wasn't; he appreciated her efforts and also knew that she wasn't perfect.

Marco smiled back at her. "That's what I like to see," he replied.

"Um…" Caitlin looked around, looking for her parents. "Why are we alone?"

"Oh, I think your parents retired to the living room," Marco answered. It was then that he noticed that Caitlin looked uncomfortable. "What's wrong?"

"Do you want to get married to me?" Caitlin asked bluntly.

Marco blinked at her, half stunned from her question. "Of course I do," he answered. "Why else…"

"That's not what I mean," Caitlin said, shaking her head. "Don't you think it's too soon, Mr. Marco? For either of us?"

Marco took a deep breath. "I know, I know," he answered with a sigh. "My parents have wanted this to happen sooner rather than later." He wrapped his arms around her in an effort to calm her down. "I'm sure we can stall them for however long it takes, but I can't stall them forever."

Caitlin laid her head on her fiancée's shoulder and nodded. "That sounds like a plan," she answered, smiling gently. "But what do we do in the meantime? I'd feel bad about lying to them…"

"No, we wouldn't," Marco answered. "We could just say that we would like to take it slower, you know? Go out on dates more, make it look more natural."

"What if they don't want to believe it?"

"We'll make them believe it," Marco answered, gently holding Caitlin's hand in his. "I only want what's best for you."

Caitlin smiled and held his hand. "All right," she answered. "That sounds good."

Marco straightened Caitlin up in her seat before he gently touched the side of her face with his hand. "Was that all you were worried about?" he asked her. "If it was, then you shouldn't have to worry about anything like that."

Caitlin's eyes fell towards her lap. She couldn't bear to tell him about the strange person who was watching her earlier. She didn't want to worry him any more than he already looked.

"You're quiet, love," Marco said, smoothing her cheek with his thumb.

Caitlin blinked and looked up at him. "I-It's nothing, really," she tried to brush it off.

But Marco wouldn't hear of it. "Did something happen today?" he pressed.

Now she was found out. And she knew it.

"There was a man watching me earlier," Caitlin finally said after taking a deep breath.

"Where was he?" Marco asked her.

"Across the street."

"Do you want me to find him?"

Caitlin shook her head. "No, it's okay," she answered. "He already left before you arrived."

Marco held onto her protectively, almost too protectively for Caitlin to understand. "I should have been here sooner," he said. "Leaving you alone with that stalker on the loose…"

"Mr. Marco, it's okay," Caitlin repeated.

"No, it isn't," he answered, holding her tighter while looking into the distance. Her parents had just come into the dining room again, so now he had to make it look good for them. "Someone stalking my fiancée… I won't stand for it."

"Mr. Marco, please, it's all right," Caitlin whispered into his ear. "I'm fine, really…"

"Your parents are in the room," Marco whispered back. "Just act it out to make it natural."

"Someone was stalking her?" Hannah asked with a hand to her mouth just as Marshall had raced into the dining room.

"Yes," Marco answered. "Michael must have scared him off before that man could do anything."

Caitlin kept her head on his shoulders and forced herself to shake into sobbing.

"It's all right now," Marco soothed her. "He won't come back here. Not if he knows what's good for him."

Caitlin sniffled into his shoulder. "He won't?" she asked.

Marco shook his head. "No," he answered. "Would you like for me to get a guard for you for when you leave the house?"

"No, I'll be all right," she reassured him with a smile.

Hannah and Marshall looked at their daughter with worried looks on their faces. A stalker? That can't be!

"Caitlin, are you sure you don't need someone to guard you?" Marshall asked her. "I'm sure I can ask one of my colleagues…"

"I'll be all right, Father," Caitlin answered with a gentle smile and a brush of her hand under her eyes. "Mr. Michael and Mr. Marco would be enough."

Marshall was about to say something before Hannah put a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Now, darling, you know our daughter," Hannah said. "She's not going to ask for help unless she feels like she needs it."

"I swear, though," Marshall answered in a whisper that only Hannah could hear. "She's almost too stubborn for her own good."

Hannah chuckled quietly. "She's a smart girl," she said. "I would know; I homeschooled her myself."

"That she is," Marshall replied with a smile. "And we couldn't be prouder of her."

Marco looked at her. "Will you be all right, Miss Caitlin?" he asked his fiancée.

Caitlin nodded her head before lifting her head off Marco's shoulder. "I'll be all right," she answered with a gentle smile. "I guess I was worried about Mr. Marco's deployment is all…"

Marco smiled before gently cupping Caitlin's face into his hands. "You don't have to worry about me, love," he answered. "If a man can't protect the woman he loves, then what good is that man?"

Marshall nodded. "That's right, Marco," he replied. "Marco is a fine, upstanding young man. He would do anything it took to protect you."

Marco gently smoothed Caitlin's cheeks with his thumbs. The feeling of her soft skin on his thumbs would be enough for him to stop fighting on his own, but his dedication to the Alliance was also needed. And since Caitlin could understand what might entail, he might as well oblige. "I honestly would," Marco answered.

Caitlin nodded in understanding, although in her heart she was terrified about what the war was likely going to do.

~;~;~;~;~

(Next Chapter: The war still goes on, not just in the minds of those that are fighting, but also in the hearts as well. As Caitlin prepares for a trip for a concert on Earth, something happens that changes her life forever. And it will shake the foundation she knows so well. Next on Gundam Wing: Gemini, Chapter 2: A Dangerous Decision.)


	2. A Dangerous Decision

Gundam Wing: Gemini

Chapter Two: A Dangerous Decision

(Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, nor would I want to.)

(AN: Did you like the end part of the first chapter? I decided to do that instead of the traditional "R&R" or "Read, Favorite, Comment" lines. Plus, it lets you know what'll likely go on in the next chapter. So with that said, let's get going.)

~;~;~;~;~

Marco sat under the gazebo and admired the pink roses that bloomed on the Lane estate. Pink had been a favorite color of Caitlin's from as far back as he could remember and he closed his eyes to remember the smile on her face when he brought back from Earth one pink rose bush, aptly named Blush. The smile on her face and the sparkle in her eyes was worth more than anything he could ever afford for her.

From that one bush came others, and while there were only three other pink rose bushes there, he was just grateful to remember that smile on his fiancée's face.

"I'm ready, Mr. Marco," Caitlin's voice seemed to break through his memories.

Marco opened his eyes and looked at his fiancée. Her long wavy brown hair was partly over one shoulder, the pale blue knee-length dress made her blue eyes stand out while her white flats just seemed to make her appear cuter. He stood up and walked over to her, desperately trying to keep the obvious from leaving his mouth.

"You look beautiful," Marco said, a smile gracing his lips. "But you always look beautiful, so one day I'll have to find a better word for it…"

Caitlin giggled into her hand. "No, you don't," she answered. "I like the word anyway."

Marco still smiled at her. God, why did she have to be so beautiful? "I know your father already left, but I'd feel better if I escorted you to the studio today," he said, offering his arm to her.

Caitlin felt her cheeks tinge pink as she took his arm. "You'd feel better?" she asked him.

"Yes, what with that stalker out there," he answered as he led her back into the house and to the front door. "To think someone would be stalking my love like this… I'd rather be here if he dared to try again…"

"Mr. Marco," Caitlin grabbed his arm gently. "It's all right, really."

Marco wasn't sure why she was trying to make him feel better. He still felt as if he should have been there in case that bastard was to come after his beloved. But still, seeing her face only put him at ease, at least for the time being. "All right," he conceded. "But we don't know the next location for your concert, love."

Caitlin sighed gently. She wanted more than anything to make this concert worth it, but it just seemed so empty without Marco there to watch her perform.

"I wish I could go see it," Marco continued as he escorted her to his car and held the door open for her.

Caitlin sat down in the seat and buckled herself up. She knew why Marco wasn't able to see it; his training at the colony wouldn't be over until after the concert. She wasn't sure why she was looking down about that, though.

After Marco got into the driver's seat and buckled up, he reached over and gently touched her cheek with his hand. "I tried to get clearance so I could see you perform, but…"

"It's all right," she answered, trying her hardest to smile. "Your training is more important."

"Not as important as you."

Caitlin blinked at him, and the second she did, tears slowly fell from her eyes.

Of all the things Marco's training could help him with, seeing his fiancée cry wasn't one of them. He couldn't bear to see her beautiful eyes well up with tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks. "No no, don't cry, my angel," he pleaded, moving his thumbs to dry the tears before they reached her chin. "I'll see you in concert soon. I promise."

Caitlin blinked at him. "Are you sure your superiors won't be upset with you?" she asked him.

Marco gently dried her face with his thumbs. "If I have to, I'll just go AWOL," he answered.

"And risk desertion charges?"

"If it meant that I'd see you in concert, yes," Marco answered. "Then at least I could serve my time happily."

"I'm being serious," Caitlin replied, pouting her lips at him.

"I am, too," Marco answered. "What kind of fiancée would I be if I couldn't see my lovely Caitlin performing?"

"Well, there's always the broadcasts," she said.

"But it's not the same."

Caitlin only blinked at him, knowing he won the discussion. Broadcasts, while they would be nice for the situation they were in now, were not the same as Marco being there in person and watching her perform some of her hit singles.

"I'll just ask off in advance next time," he said as he started the car and started to drive to the studio.

"It'll be all right," Caitlin answered with a smile. "I'm sure it won't be too far to where you can't see me."

~;~;~;~;~

"Siberia?" Marco and Caitlin asked in unison.

Caitlin's manager, Matthew Brady, nodded his head. He looked only to be in his thirties, with brown hair and brown eyes.

"But this would be the first time she'll be on Earth," Marco answered.

"Exactly," Matthew replied. "She's already on her way in the colonies. Why not expand that to the Earth as well?"

Marco still felt hesitant while Caitlin only sat on the couch. There was no way he'd let his angel descend to Earth all alone. That would _not_ do at all.

"There's no need to worry," Matthew continued. "She'll be at an Alliance stronghold to perform there. Caitlin will be just fine."

Sure Marco didn't look worried, but on the inside, he was more than worried. It was on Earth, a place that Caitlin was not familiar with at all. And even though it was at an Alliance stronghold, he knew the situation with OZ and the Alliance weren't on the friendliest of terms.

"Mr. Marco?"

Caitlin's voice seemed to snap Marco out of it. And just feeling her soft fingers around his arm helped with that considerably.

He looked at Caitlin with a gentle smile on his face. "I'm all right, angel," he answered. "It's just that you'll be somewhere where I can't protect you myself. That's what is upsetting me."

Caitlin smiled at him. "Mr. Marco, I'm sure I'll be just fine," she said in an effort to put his mind at ease.

"I'll feel better if someone goes with you," he answered.

"Mr. Marco, it's really not a problem…" Caitlin tried to counter.

Marco simply shook his head and gently touched the side of Caitlin's face with his free hand. "It is a problem with you going off by yourself," he replied. "I know you want to go on your own, my love, but these are troubled times. There's just no telling what might happen to you if you go alone."

Caitlin simply blinked while trying to keep from turning pink in her cheeks.

Marco gently smiled at her. Most of his fellow soldiers had thought that Marco was simply overprotective, especially over his fiancée, but at the end of the day, if no hairs were harmed on her head and if she was safe at home, then being overprotective would be the best thing for him to be. "If you promise to stay at the base and not go wandering off on Earth without protection, then you can go," he finished.

"Now, just a minute," Matthew tried to interject.

"No, I'm not letting my fiancée go off to somewhere she doesn't know without someone to make sure she is returned home," Marco interrupted.

Caitlin simply blinked at them, trying to keep the peace between her manager and her fiancée. She wasn't sure if they were arguing, but she wished that they would stop. At least, for her sake.

"This should be Caitlin's decision and hers alone," Matthew answered.

"She's my responsibility," Marco replied.

"It's all right," Caitlin finally answered them. "Mr. Marco is simply looking out for me. Are you sure there'll be a group from the Alliance base to escort me there?"

"Absolutely," Marco answered before he looked at Matthew as if to say, _"She's only going if there is."_

Matthew nodded his head. "I'm sure I can arrange an escort for you when you arrive," he answered.

"Then it's settled," Marco answered with a smile. "When there's an escort waiting for her upon her arrival, then she'll be more than happy to go."

Caitlin smiled and lay her head on Marco's shoulder. "Now, could both of you stop arguing? Please?" she asked them.

Marco and Matthew looked at each other and chuckled.

"We're not arguing, love," Marco answered. "We're just concerned for your safety. And if this is the only way we can ensure it, then so be it."

Caitlin picked her head up from Marco's shoulder and nodded. "All right," she said. "Let's make this performance amazing."

Marco smiled at Caitlin's enthusiasm. She had enough of that to fill up a colony. _If only there were more open-minded people like you, my love,_ he thought to himself. _Then maybe this war would be over and things can finally go to normal._

~;~;~;~;~

"And in other news today, singer Caitlin Lane will be headed to Siberia for her first ever concert on Earth," a reporter was saying into a video camera. "According to her manager, she is quoted with being, 'very excited to go to Earth to expand her traveling and a chance to see her fans'."

Marco had gotten special permission to see his fiancée off on her first trip to Earth. Her father, Marshall, was there as well to see Caitlin off at the space port headed to Earth.

"You stay with the Alliance while you're down there," Marshall was saying to his daughter.

"Yes, Father," Caitlin answered, smiling.

Marco gently took her hands into his own, silently rubbing her soft skin as if relishing the sensation. He wanted to hold onto her much longer than he could at the moment. "And let us know when you have arrived, too," Marco blurted out in addition.

Caitlin blinked as Marco then hugged her tightly and she felt the buttons from his uniform almost press into her long-sleeved lavender dress. "M-Mr. Marco?" she asked.

Marco gently let her go as if someone was watching him. "I just want you to let us know that you've arrived safely, is all," he answered.

"O-Oh," Caitlin answered with a blink of confusion.

"Marco, I'm sure Caitlin won't forget that," Marshall said with a chuckle. Ah, young love. But he could understand Marco's overprotectiveness towards her. She was Marshall's only living daughter, after all. He couldn't bear to lose yet another child in a war that seemed to be never-ending.

"I won't, Father," Caitlin answered with a smile at both of them.

Marco gently held her face in his hands just as the announcement that the shuttle would be leaving shortly and that it was the last call. "I love you, Caitlin," he said gently to her. "Just be careful."

"I love you, too, Mr. Marco," Caitlin answered. "And I will be careful… for everyone."

With that, Marco and Marshall both watched as Caitlin walked into the shuttle and sat down at a window seat to see both of them. They both waved at her while Marco blew a kiss at her.

Caitlin blushed as she blew one back at him.

Marco watched the shuttle leave the space port and took a deep breath. "Are you sure that she'll be all right?" he asked her father.

Marshall nodded his head. "Caitlin will be just fine," he answered. "She's simply excited about the concert. I'm just sorry you weren't able to go with her."

"I know," Marco answered. "I have to hope that I'll see her perform in person one time."

"That will happen, I assure you," Marshall answered. "Caitlin would like nothing more than for that to happen."

~;~;~;~;~

At the Siberia base, half a dozen soldiers were to see that Caitlin had arrived safely. Sure six people were a lot of soldiers, considering the war, but Marshall had always been a friend to the leader of the base. Seeing that his only child was safe and at the base was important to him.

"Miss Lane has to be safe at all costs!" the instructor, a man of almost 25, demanded.

Whispers came around the base like wildfire from the younger cadets.

"Miss Lane is coming here?"

"Caitlin's so pretty!"

"I wish I was engaged to her…"

"Marco's going to be disappointed he can't be here to see her."

The instructor shook his head. Certainly they were thinking only one thing, and it wasn't thinking of Caitlin's safety. "You stay here at the base," he said to the four cadets whispering about Caitlin.

"Aww…" they said in unison.

The instructor stepped into the car. "I'll go to get her to bring her to the base," he said. "I'm leaving Lieutenant Yancey in charge."

With that, the car took off, leaving the four dejected soldiers to deal with Lieutenant Yancey and his rigorous training. Again.

The car arrived at the spaceport after some time had passed, and Caitlin was standing on the inside, looking just as radiant as ever. The instructor stepped out of the car and walked into the spaceport, watching other soldiers salute him. "Miss Lane, I'm glad you arrived safely," he answered.

"Thank you," Caitlin answered.

"How was the trip here? I know it's your first time coming to Earth."

"It was kind of bumpy near the end, though," Caitlin answered with a smile. "Mr. Marco told me about the turbulence, but I think I handled it well."

"That's good to hear," he answered, relieved that the four soldiers were staying at the base. "Shall we go?"

She nodded. "When we arrive to the base, I need to call my father and Mr. Marco to…"

"Let them know you're here," the instructor finished. "I know Marshall. Ever since this war started, he's been protective of you. It's a good and honorable trait for a father."

Caitlin watched as the instructor opened the door for her and helped her into the car. "He is," she answered, buckling up her seat belt. "My father does tend to worry a little more than normal."

The instructor closed the door before he walked over to get into the other side of the car and buckled up. "Well, you are his daughter, after all," he said. "As a father myself, I would worry over my daughter being anywhere she doesn't know. It's something that fathers would do, at least, the ones that love them."

"That makes sense," Caitlin answered.

"Your father loves you more than life itself," the instructor said. "I'm sure when he knows you're safe and sound, he'll be more than happy."

"Likely worried until I come home," Caitlin replied.

"Perhaps. But then again, that just shows what kind of father he is to you."

Caitlin simply nodded her head. "You're right," she answered. "I guess I shouldn't take him for granted."

The instructor smiled. For one so young, Caitlin did seem to be a smart young lady. He could understand why Marco would marry her one day.

But the smile faded as soon as it appeared when he heard an explosion.

"Sir, the base has been attacked!" the driver of the car shouted over the noise.

Caitlin's eyes went wide as she simply held a hand over her mouth.

"Get us out of here!" the instructor demanded.

"Yes sir!" the driver answered.

Caitlin looked at the instructor. "What's going on?" she asked him just as the car made a sharp turn.

"We're not going to the base," the instructor answered. "It's under attack."

Instantly, Caitlin's face fell as she heard the answer. She couldn't understand why someone would attack such an isolated area. She would have asked if everyone was okay, but now wasn't a good time to ask, it seemed.

Another explosion seemed to get closer to the car, making Caitlin rattle in her seat while she held on.

"Why are they attacking?" Caitlin asked, confusion creeping into her fear-filled voice.

"They're attacking the base," the instructor said. "We're trying to get away from them…"

But before he could say anything more, another explosion landed close enough to the car to make it flip several times. Caitlin could only close her eyes and hope that the tumbling of the car would come to a stop soon. She whimpered as the car continued to roll around like a piece of trash on the ground.

After a short time, the car finally stopped rolling, jarring her into the door of the car as it landed onto its left side. Caitlin opened her eyes and gasped at seeing the instructor with a gash on his head unbuckling her seat belt.

"Are you all right?" the instructor asked her, ignoring the gash on his head.

"I'm all right," she answered. "But you're hurt!"

"Don't worry about me," the instructor replied as he finally unbuckled Caitlin's seat belt. He sniffed around and smelled something leaking, and he knew just what that was: gasoline from the car was catching the car on fire. If he didn't do something about it now, all three of them would die!

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"Miss Lane, the car is going to explode in a short while," he explained to the stunned girl. "I'll help you out of the car, but after that, you need to run as fast as you can."

"Explode?" Caitlin echoed before she took a sniff and realized just what he meant, and that only terrified her more. "But what about you? And the driver?"

"There's nothing you can do about us," the instructor answered, elbowing out the passenger window. He then grabbed Caitlin's arm and helped her to the passenger window. "But at least if I can get you out of the car to safety, that will be enough for me."

Caitlin wasn't sure why she was climbing up to the passenger window, but if the instructor wanted her where it was safe, that seemed to make sense to her. She felt the instructor help her through the window, where she looked and her eyes widened. The front of the car was on fire!

"I need you to jump!" he shouted to her.

Caitlin reluctantly agreed and jumped from the car and landed several feet away. She turned around and looked at the car. "I need to get you out of the car!" she tried to shout over the flames.

"No, Miss Lane!" the instructor shouted back through the flames. "You need to run and get as far away as you can from here!"

"But…"

"Think about Marco!"

Caitlin gasped as tears started to fill her eyes at the mention of her fiancée's name.

"Marco would be devastated if something happened to you!" the instructor continued. "So would your parents! Just run as fast as you can!"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "All right!" she shouted back. "I'll never forget you! Thank you for saving me!"

The instructor saw Caitlin start to run away from the burning car. He didn't have the heart to tell her that his leg was broken from the rollover. Saving Caitlin from this fiery hell was enough for his conscience to bear. "Be careful," he said to her now-retreated footsteps. "At least you're safe now." He closed his eyes just as the car exploded.

Caitlin heard the explosion behind her and turned around. She dried her eyes before she started running away from the car again. Due to it being her very first trip to Earth, her directions were confusing her, as well as the tears that continued to fall from her eyes. What was North right now? South? Should she go West or East? All she knew was that she needed to get away from the area. She kept thinking of Marco in her mind, trying to remain calm although she was scared out of her mind. _I have to keep running,_ she thought to herself, picking a random direction to run in and hoping it would be a good choice.

Sadly for her, it wasn't.

She felt her shoe land on something hard and it made her trip over onto the tracks. When she looked up, she saw a white mobile suit laying on the tracks with what looked to be gray and yellow on the armor as well. This did not look like anything the Alliance or OZ would have.

"What is this thing?" she asked herself, almost too petrified to move. She found herself looking at the suit, mentally wondering if this was an angel that simply fell onto the Earth, and if it was an angel, why was it a mobile suit?

Inside the suit, a blond-haired pilot looked out one of the monitors and saw a confusing yet terrifying sight. A girl with long brown hair was lying on the tracks in between the shield of his suit and the shoulder. He wasn't sure if he was seeing a mirage or if it was a real girl. And the only way to find out was to ask.

"Are you all right?" he asked the girl on the tracks.

Caitlin's eyes only widened in fear. There was a voice from inside the suit! And what scared her more was that the voice was completely unfamiliar with her. She didn't know the person in the suit and wasn't sure whether or not she should answer. Just then a rumbling noise caught her attention and a light only seemed to get closer to the suit… and her. It was a train!

Caitlin curled into a ball and shut her eyes tightly, half-expecting for the train to collide with both of them.

But what happened next would only be classified as a miracle. She peered out from behind the tall object obstructing her view, despite the person's voice from the mobile suit telling her it was too dangerous to do that and watched as the train was simply flipped off its tracks like a child throwing a figurine off a table. But while Caitlin should have been relieved, the dark color of another suit only terrified her more. Was it a demon? What was going on?

It was as black as night, the only thing to show that it was a suit were white legs and white areas of its armor. But that did nothing to calm her down.

She felt something move and that made her fall back, but instead of hitting the tracks, she landed on what looked to be the mobile suit's hand. Caitlin looked as the suit seemed to open up, and the owner of the voice appeared from the cockpit. He looked to be almost her age, with blond hair and goggles on his face.

"It's too dangerous to be here," he said, extending a hand over to the stunned girl. "You need to be somewhere safe."

Caitlin looked at the hand and wondered if she should accept it, considering that she had no idea who this person was. But she also had to consider that she was in the middle of nowhere, and had no idea how to get to where she could call her father and fiancée to tell them she was okay. She took a breath and grabbed the hand that was offered to her. She squeaked as she felt herself being pulled inside the suit and not a moment too soon.

She found herself sitting on the pilot's legs and so she looked around at all the monitors and buttons inside the suit. Caitlin had never been inside a mobile suit before; Marco would never have allowed it.

Before the blond pilot could ask if she was okay, a voice came from the other suit.

"Hey! You okay?"

The blond pilot looked at the girl with him before he finally answered, "Yeah, I am. I'm glad you came." _But who is she?_ he thought to himself. _How did she get here? Where did she come from?_

Caitlin looked out one of the monitors and saw the dark looking mobile suit that seemed to be talking to the blond pilot. The suit seemed to confuse her more and terrify her less. For what reason, she didn't know.

"Good," the voice came from the other suit. "But this is the decoy route."

The blond pilot and Caitlin both looked on as doors from the train seemed to open up and reveal Leo suits, their guns aimed right at them, including the other mobile suit.

Caitlin wasn't sure what to feel about the other pilot's voice from the other suit. Was he on this one's side? Wasn't he? But there was something about the tone of his voice that continued to make Caitlin think. Who was he? Who was this pilot in the suit she was in now? Did they know each other before? So many questions seemed to enter her mind at that moment.

"We're surrounded," the blond pilot said before looking at the girl sitting on his lap. "I'm sorry, but you'll need to hang on."

Caitlin blinked at him, slightly hesitant to do what he had asked. She held her hands onto one of the straps that kept the pilot in his seat and nodded her head. "Okay," she answered.

"All right," he said before he pushed his suit into action.

Between the two suits, both of them destroyed the Leo fleet that was on the tracks. During the attack, it seemed like Caitlin only pressed against the blond pilot more.

The blond pilot was trying not to notice, but the last time Caitlin was pressed against him, he was worried that maybe she had loosened the hold onto the strap and ended up hurt. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Caitlin nodded. "I'm fine," she answered.

But before she could properly thank him for saving her life, much less ask his name, she heard a transmission, and what the words were would chill Caitlin's blood cold.

"Calling all Gundam pilots!" a female voice announced with authority through a transmission.

Caitlin blinked in confusion. A Gundam? Was that what she was inside at the moment? But the worst was yet to come.

"We are now in a position to stage an all-out missile attack on the colonies!" the voice continued.

Caitlin's confusion only turned into anguish. Her home was being threatened, and that meant her family and her beloved were now hostages to whoever was controlling the missiles. My parents… Mr. Marco… what's going on? she thought as she found herself unable to do much more than listen to the rest with her eyes wide.

The blond pilot could only listen to the words that were coming in and look helplessly at the girl as her blue eyes widened in horror.

"We have seized all the missiles from the former Alliance. It's reasonable to say that we control the destiny of all the colonies."

Caitlin covered her face with her hands and tried to keep from breaking down. If the Alliance's missiles were taken, then that meant that OZ was doing this. She felt completely powerless to do anything about it, and that made her feel even worse.

The blond pilot let go of the controls with one hand and placed his hand gently onto the girl's shoulder. He knew that OZ were cowards for even involving the colonies, and this was quite possibly the most underhanded threat he had heard, but he still didn't know what to say to the girl to calm her down. In the end, nothing would.

Caitlin blinked and lowered her hands to see the hand that was lying on her shoulder gently squeeze it for a moment. For a second, it seemed like it would help calm her down after all.

"This isn't a bluff," the voice continued still. "I demand that the pilots surrender at once and hand over your Gundams!"

Caitlin watched the hand that had been on her shoulder reach up and grab his goggles off of his head. For the first time, she could see his face completely. His turquoise eyes only widened as much as Caitlin's eyes had before. He's only my age, she thought to herself. And he's fighting in this war? Why?

"They've targeted the colonies!" the blond pilot said, his voice sharing with the concern that Caitlin could more than comprehend.

But what made this different was Caitlin's next set of whispered words.

"Father… mother… Mr. Marco…" Caitlin seemed to be staring off into space, and the shuddering breathing that she was doing, along with her eyes still wide in a state of fear, only made it clearer as to what was happening to her.

The second the blond pilot touched her shoulder again and saw no response, he realized what it was. His turquoise eyes only looked at her with concern. And he knew why.

Caitlin had slowly gone into shock.

The blond pilot could only feel horrible for her. Their home was being threatened by OZ, and all of this wasn't helping the girl at all. What made it worse was that he didn't know her name so he could try to snap her out of it.

Her anguish was starting to get to him and in the worst way. He didn't know how to help her, not to mention he didn't even know her name, and now this was going on. But sadly, it would only go from bad to worse. He watched as another Gundam pilot, one with brown hair wearing a green tank top and black shorts, stepped out of his suit and press a button. Different areas of the Gundam lit up like a Christmas tree behind him.

All he could do was watch as the Gundam simply lit up and then exploded. Bits of the Gundam fell off as if they were crumbs off of a cookie, and its pilot was tossed through the air and onto the ground like a rag doll.

Watching a fellow Gundam pilot self-detonate, on top with a girl having slipped into shock right before his eyes, was more than enough for the blond pilot to grab his chest in total anguish. He could feel the pain rising, not just from himself, but with what had happened and the girl in the Gundam with him. It was bad enough that he was witnessing this, but also, there was the fact that the girl also saw it as well and may likely have more questions than answers. Answers that he wasn't sure if he wanted to give her.

"Can you hear me?" a voice that the blond pilot seemed to recognize broke through his momentary break from reality. When he heard that they couldn't fight without a reason, his heart sank. As he reached up to gently touch the girl's shoulder again, she seemed to crumple against him like a stone. She would have hit her head on the controls if he hadn't reached his arms up in time and let her lay her head on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he asked before he brushed the hair that seemed to cover her face behind her ear. When he didn't get an answer, he blinked at her and realized that she was passed out. Perhaps it was for the best. She had likely seen too much in one day that would have sent the normal person insane.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow and steady. Whoever this girl was, getting her to safety just became a priority. Little did he know just who she really was.

"We have to retreat," he said with more than just sadness in his voice for the fallen pilot.

The pilot to the black and white Gundam appeared on a screen. He looked to be a teenager as well, with blue eyes, a black shirt with a white turtleneck under it, and brown hair. A priest, maybe?

"So, who's the lady?" he asked the blond pilot.

"I don't know," the blond pilot answered, wishing he had an answer to that question himself. That girl seemed to be more of a mystery than anything at the moment. "When we get away from here, I guess we'll find out."

But the more the pilot in black looked at the girl lying against the blond pilot's shoulder, the more he wondered. Just who was this girl? Where did she come from? And perhaps the most important question: just what the hell did she come from?

~;~;~;~;~

(AN: Yep, just so you guys don't get TOO confused, there is a lot going on. Anyone who's seen Gundam Wing in some way would know just who these two are. But, as they say, the worst is going to happen.)

(Next chapter: Some secrets are best left undisturbed. OZ makes a startling announcement that involves the Gundam pilots, as well as the girl Quatre rescued. Once the girl comes around, she finds a long-lost piece of truth that would shake up one Gundam pilot, and that would be the piece that answers one mystery yet opens another. Next, on Gundam Wing: Gemini, Chapter 3, False Truths.)


	3. False Truths

Gundam Wing: Gemini

Chapter 3: False Truths

(Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I want to. No, seriously, I'd rather not own it.)

(AN: Well, here we go with another chapter. I'm trying to pump these out more than I really want to at the moment. The Gundams sure have themselves in a pickle, huh? Never a dull moment.)

~;~;~;~;~

While the girl laid on the bed in one room, Duo and Quatre were filled with questions of their own in another. Just who was she? Where did she come from? And more importantly, what in the hell was she doing in Siberia, of all places?

All of those questions only made their situation worse when they watched the breaking report.

"We have breaking news out of Siberia," a reporter stated with a picture of the girl that was with them on the other side of the screen. "Singer Caitlin Lane was abducted en route to the Alliance stronghold where she was scheduled to perform. According to OZ, they report that she was very likely abducted by the Gundams. Her family in the colonies is asking for her safe return…"

"Now that's a load of crap," Duo said with his arms crossed against his chest. "There's no way we kidnapped her!"

"OZ is likely going to spin this to make it _look_ like we have," Quatre answered. "If they could get away with threatening the colonies, then it's more than possible that they would do something like this."

But while Duo was upset, Quatre was more concerned than before. Now he knew the girl's name, but while he was grateful she wasn't injured, she wasn't awake to answer the main question on his mind: what was a nice girl like that doing on the battlefield?

"Why don't I go check on her?" Duo suggested. "She can't stay asleep forever."

Quatre nodded. It would likely be best, considering that he likely wouldn't be able to answer the many questions that she would likely ask when she woke up. And it didn't help that he had his own thoughts to deal with as well. Not only were they powerless to fight at the moment since the colonies were used as a shield, but something random came to his mind: the girl and Duo both looked rather similar. Why was that? He decided to leave that part alone; it wasn't his place.

With that, Duo left the room and headed down the hall to check in on the sleeping girl. He figured he would knock, just in case. He didn't want to walk in on a girl and get screamed at.

But the sound from the other side snapped him to attention.

"Come in," a soft voice came from behind the door.

When Duo opened the door, he saw the girl with her hand on the side of her head with her eyes closed. Whether she had just woken up or if she had been awake the whole time, he didn't know. But when he saw the television on in the room, he knew that she likely heard more than she needed to.

"Is it true?" she asked. "Is what OZ is saying really true? That you abducted me?"

Duo stayed in a corner of the room, out of sight from the girl. He didn't want her to see who he was. But there was something in her voice that rang a bell in his mind. Her voice… why did it sound so familiar to him? No, it couldn't be…

"Well?" the girl prodded, opening her eyes finally and looking around the room. Her breath hitched in her throat as she could barely see anything, aside from the TV. The only light seemed to shine through the shutters, but that did nothing but fuel her question more.

"Why would we kidnap someone? That's not our style," he answered her finally.

The girl looked around, trying to find out where the voice came from. "This doesn't look like any base I've seen," she said.

"No, the blond guy found you and brought you here."

"Where's 'here'?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.

"The Middle East," Duo answered, hoping she'd just leave it at that.

But that only seemed to frighten her more. "What am I doing out here?" she asked, feeling uncomfortable with talking to a voice with no face to go with it.

"Well, if you have to know," Duo answered. "The blond guy with the goggles? He found you on the tracks and pulled you inside. Poor guy looked worried about you."

"Is everyone okay?" the girl asked.

Now that was a question Duo wasn't prepared for. A girl he didn't know asking if everyone was all right? Normally, the first question asked would have been where they were and how they could get out. Instead she was asking if everyone, aside herself, was all right. He wondered if she had hit her head or something.

"Yeah, for the most part," he finally answered her back.

The girl looked considerably relieved from that. "That's good to hear," she said with a smile.

But the more Duo looked at her, the more he didn't want to get too close to her. He wasn't sure why, though. Last he checked, the girl didn't even have a weapon on her.

"Were you with him?" the girl asked him. "The one who wore the goggles?"

"Yeah," he answered, remaining in the dark corner of the room.

"So… OZ is simply lying about me being abducted? Right?" she asked.

Maybe he thought she was smarter than she looked. "Pretty much," Duo answered.

"But they threatened the colonies…" At that point, the girl's eyes widened, and her face was twisted with horror. "My parents! I hadn't been able to tell them I'm all right! Surely they don't believe that OZ is telling them that I was abducted!"

"Actually, they are," he answered.

The girl stood up for a moment. "I need to tell them I'm all right," she said before sitting back down. Her head still felt like a bowling pin that had been knocked down by the ball.

"Not from here, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Because if you did, then OZ would make it worse than it already is."

The girl took a breath before covering her face with her hands. Surely things couldn't have gotten worse…

~;~;~;~;~

At the Lane mansion, Marshall, Hannah, and Marco had finished their press conference. Hannah had her hand over her eyes, trying to catch the tears that were falling onto her hands. When the door closed, Marco's hands balled into fists.

"This is my fault," he said. "I never should have let Caitlin go off to Earth without an escort in the shuttle!"

"You didn't know this would happen," Marshall answered with a hand on Marco's shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find her and bring her home quickly. Those Gundams did this to mock the Alliance and OZ."

"Those bastards," Marco growled. "If they needed to fight someone, fight the enemies, fight me, but not just abduct Caitlin. What did she do to deserve this? Not a damn thing!"

Marshall nodded his head. "Marco, I know you're upset," he started.

"You're damn right I'm upset!" Marco answered. "My fiancée was abducted by the Gundam pilots! Who knows what they're going to do to her!"

~;~;~;~;~

"Make it worse?" the girl asked.

Duo nodded from the corner. "Yeah," he answered. "They'll probably spin that too to tell everyone that we forced you to say you were okay."

The girl's hands fell from her face before she looked around the room. "Um, this is getting uncomfortable," she said. "I can't see who I'm talking to."

Duo finally took a deep breath and took a step forward. He didn't want to get any closer than that, since he didn't want her to see him.

"I don't think that'll help," she said.

But the second Duo stepped further into view, the more he could see the girl's features. Her blue eyes and long brown hair were nice. Her light blue long-sleeved dress still showed a few spots from where she had fallen onto the track. For the most part, she wasn't hurt. At least that was one shining moment in this whole mess they were now involved in.

"That's better," she said, smiling up at him. "Now I don't feel like I'm talking to the walls." Her smile soon faded as she looked at the floor. "I guess I should explain some things that the news wasn't saying."

In his mind, he already knew her name from the reports. Anything else, well… that was anyone's guess. But at least she was willing to talk to him. Why, he wondered. Maybe it was because he was approachable? Or was it because he was concerned about her? A girl like that shouldn't have been anywhere near where she was to start with.

"My name is Caitlin Lane," the girl continued. "I'm a singer from the colonies."

Duo could swear he had heard the name before, from the news report. Well, at least she wasn't lying about that. If it was one thing Duo was good at, it was reading faces. Caitlin's just seemed to look as if telling him the next thing would hurt her more than he. He wasn't sure whether to coax her into talking about it or to leave her be. But it wasn't all. Her worrying about others before herself, her eyes, her hair… even how soft her voice was. Maybe he was wishing for something he couldn't have.

"I'm sorry, it's just that… you remind me of someone," Caitlin apologized.

"Someone?"

Caitlin nodded. "I've been an only child for years now," she answered. "But I had a brother, an older brother. Years ago, he disappeared after the area I was in was destroyed. When I woke up in the hospital days later, I asked about him, where he was, why he didn't come back…"

At that point, he wasn't sure what was in her eyes, but he swore he could see tears in her blue eyes, as if she was remembering something she didn't want to talk of.

"I found out then that he was dead," Caitlin continued, shutting her eyes to hold onto what little strength she had. "My brother was just… gone."

All he could do was stand there and listen to what happened. Did he feel bad for her? Of course. Losing someone was hard enough as it was, especially if it was someone she cared about. But what piqued his interest was what she said next.

"Some time later, I was adopted by the Lane couple."

At that point, Duo had a feeling the last name sounded familiar. "You don't mean that general from the Alliance, do you?" he just had to ask her.

Caitlin blinked up at him and nodded. "That's my adoptive father," she answered. "Do you know him, too?"

That certainly wasn't the answer he was looking for. Caitlin had been adopted by the Alliance, the same general that had ordered that the church be destroyed. The same church that killed the two people that cared for him more than anything in the world and stole the person that mattered to him. He could remember the screams his little sister had before he had raced out of the church that day.

Caitlin blinked up at him. "Is something wrong?" she asked. But before she could get an answer, she watched Duo leave the room, and that left Caitlin in confusion. Was it something she said? Something she did?

Duo stood outside of the room in the hallway, mentally kicking himself. This girl just seemed too coincidental at the moment. Her hair and her eyes, sure there were other people that had the same thing. But then there was her voice, her selflessness and worry for other people before herself, and then there was the part about the Alliance. These were the same bastards that destroyed the only real home that he and his sister had; not only that, but they also stole the three people he held dear to him. _Damn it,_ he thought to himself as he headed back to the room where Quatre was. Maybe he could make some kind of sense about Caitlin.

And, quite frankly, as Duo thought about it, everything started to add up to him. But did he really want to tell her the truth? He couldn't lie, but at the same time, telling her the truth would only make it worse on her.

;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

As if things weren't already bad enough, an OZ convoy came to the area. They had three different missions to handle: find the rebels that attacked the Siberia base, find the Gundam pilots responsible, and also to find the abducted singer. They had received reports that the rebels were in this small, unassuming town. It was obvious that the leader of the town, though he was nice and said that they could rest, might have been hiding more than he was saying.

And there was only one thing OZ could do at that moment: Flush out the enemies.

Several pairs of eyes watched from holes in the closed windows as OZ soldiers placed what looked to be long crates at certain places in town.

Did the soldiers think they were being watched? Yes. Did they care? No.

The soldiers only stayed quiet as they pressed a button inside of the supposed crates and left off to the next one until they were all deployed. Now, all they had to do was wait.

Wait and see if their efforts would pay off.

~;~;~;~;~

Duo walked back to the room that Quatre had been in, full of more questions about Caitlin than he had answers. But he couldn't just escape the fact that she looked, talked, and even behaved like his younger sister. He gripped his hand into his pocket and found the cross that he had found at the church years ago. If what he thought was true, then Caitlin was already in way over her head.

Quatre watched as the door opened and saw Duo walk back inside. The look on the other pilot's face was something he couldn't place. "How is she doing?" he asked him.

"She's awake," Duo answered, closing the door and leaning against the corner with his arms crossed against his chest.

"She's not hurt?"

"No."

"Thank goodness for that," Quatre answered, a look of relief on his face.

But Duo wished he could look as relieved as Quatre did. Sure Caitlin wasn't injured, which was good in itself, but then there was more to her. Why did he simply walk out of the room without answering her question of if he was all right?

Quatre noticed something in Duo's hand. A chain? A necklace? Whatever it was, he watched as Duo simply held the object tighter in his hand as if he was trying to break it but failing. "What's that?" he asked.

At that moment, Duo realized that he was still gripping his sister's necklace in his hand. Damn it. He suddenly shoved his hands in his pockets in an effort to make it look to Quatre that he didn't have anything and quickly regretted it. "This war's taken everyone I've cared about," he answered.

Quatre simply blinked at him. Just who was he talking about?

From inside the room she was in, Caitlin looked around before she opened the door quietly and heard voices from another room. Tilting her head to the side, she quietly walked over and stood near the door but not in front of it. What she heard stunned her.

"You had a sister?" the blond pilot from before asked from inside the room.

"Yeah," the other voice said with a hint of regret in his voice. "It was my job to protect her, and when I got back, she was gone. All I could find was her necklace."

Caitlin held her hand to her mouth in shock to keep from letting a gasp escape her lips. Was this what that pilot was trying not to tell her?

"I'm sorry to hear that," the blond pilot's voice came through the door.

"She was my little sister, Quatre," Duo said, shutting his eyes. "I thought she was dead until I found out she was adopted."

"Well, that's good to hear then," Quatre said. "At least she's adopted and isn't in any way associated with this war."

Duo shook his head. "No, she's already involved in it," he answered.

Quatre wasn't sure why he was saying this, but he had to. "What do you mean?"

Duo took a deep breath. "There's so much about that girl in there that reminds me of her. Her hair, her eyes, her worrying about everyone else before herself… the way she behaves and how she talks…" His hand gripped the cross inside his pocket again. "Of all the places where she is, why the hell did she come here?"

Outside the door, Caitlin's eyes widened like saucers. She could barely keep back a startled gasp at what she had just heard. Was her brother in that room right now? Her heart beat inside of her chest as her free hand slowly reached for the doorknob.

Inside the room, Quatre blinked in surprise. "You don't mean…"

"The girl in that room?" Duo answered, opening his eyes and looking at the door. "She's my sister."

Outside the room, Caitlin's wide eyes only filled with tears as her hand stopped just short of the doorknob. Was it really true? Her older brother was in that room right now? Why didn't he simply tell her? Did he think she wouldn't have understood the situation? Did he think she'd be in the way? Taking a step back from the doorway, she felt a few tears slide down her cheeks before she noticed that they were falling from her eyes like a dripping faucet. "He's my brother?" she said quietly into her hand. "Why didn't he just tell me?"

Inside the room, Quatre simply lowered his head. This was a lot for him to take in as well. "But still, Duo, you need to tell her the truth," he replied.

"I can't tell her I'm a Gundam pilot, Quatre," Duo protested. "That's only going to get her killed. And you know OZ would hurt her to draw me out."

"Not about the Gundams at all," Quatre answered. "Just tell her you're her brother. If you had been looking for her all this time, then don't you think she deserves to know that, regardless of what's going on?"

"She needs to be safe, above anything else."

"She will be, but you have to tell her. Otherwise, she'll still have questions, and things would get worse. Much worse."

Before Duo could answer, he heard something outside the door. The second he opened the door, another had already closed. It didn't take him long to realize what had just happened: Caitlin likely overheard what was being said. He mentally kicked himself again. Why did he let that out of his mouth? How much did she overhear? And most importantly, how was he going to explain everything he had said earlier?

Quatre, who had heard the noise as well, stood up from the bed and walked to the door. "What happened?" he asked.

Duo now felt like the biggest fool in the universe. "Caitlin heard everything," he answered, his voice low with the same amount of regret he had before.

Quatre took a deep breath. "It might be best to leave her be for a while," he replied. "Give her some time to grasp all that she heard and let it sink in before going to talk to her. You have to understand that it's a lot for her to deal with right now."

Wordlessly, Duo reluctantly agreed. There was no way he could tell her his reasons for not telling her right now; if he knew her as well as he remembered her, he thought she'd be too emotional to hear anyone straight. And the only thing he could do at the moment was to let her calm down.

Caitlin leaned against the door of the room she had been in, trying hard to keep from screaming. She was more than shocked from what she had heard; she felt herself slide down to the floor, with not much strength to stand. Not that she wanted to, anyway. It was the most difficult thing that she had listened to. Her older brother was in that room, and he never told her at all. _He just made me think for years that he was dead,_ she thought to herself. _Why did he do that?_

She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. Caitlin wasn't sure what to feel at the moment. She felt hurt from the fact that her own brother didn't try to explain that he was alive, much less a Gundam pilot. At the same time, she felt betrayed at the fact that she hadn't had the chance to see her brother for years. There was a whole other emotion that she felt: anger. But who should she be angry at? Duo for not telling her he was alive? OZ for putting them into this situation? The colonies for just sitting back and letting it happen? All three? None of the above? Maybe herself for not seeing it before now?

The deeper breaths Caitlin gave herself, the more she started to think. Was there a reason why Duo never told her he was alive? Much less, that he was a Gundam pilot? She remembered from her studies that everything happened for a reason. So, what was it?

~;~;~;~;~

Duo and Quatre were outside in a walkway as they heard from the Maganacs that OZ had been planting bombs all over town. Quatre automatically thought that it was about not just the Siberia base but also about Caitlin. Duo, on the other hand, balled his hand into a fist into his pocket. This was only going from bad to worse.

And they had until midnight until they went off. That definitely made it worse.

"Aren't the Gundams causing this problem?" Quatre asked.

It sure seemed like it to Duo. "I'm sure it's us they're after," he added. _Since they think we just kidnapped her all of a sudden,_ he thought to himself.

"Their attack seems to be well thought out," Rashid, the leader of the Maganacs, answered them. "They probably planned this for quite some time."

Quatre's mind then went to the civilians. He didn't want anything to happen to them; they had nothing to do with what was going on. Along with the civilians, he also thought about Caitlin. She had to be safe, at all costs. But still, he wasn't sure if she'd trust them or they'd have to convince her to come along.

"We'll have a meeting with everyone later on," Rashid said to them. "I'll tell them what's going on."

While that should have calmed Duo down, it didn't. He still had to explain to Caitlin why he let her believe that he was dead, why he never told her otherwise, and why he never told her he was her brother. He just wasn't sure what to say to her. Or how. Or even when.

Quatre nodded before looking at Duo. "Maybe she's calmed down enough for you to talk to her," he suggested.

"But what am I supposed to say, Quatre?" Duo asked him as they walked into the building. "'Hey, it's your brother?' I can't do that."

"You'll have to," Quatre told him. "The longer you keep the truth from her, the less she'll trust you. Or anyone, rather."

Duo took a deep breath. Not only did they have to get out of town, with their Gundams no less, but now he had a bigger battle to deal with. And he wasn't sure if he would win that one.

But now, he didn't have a choice. He would have to tell her the truth, and hope with everything he had in him that she would understand. Or at the very least, comprehend it. He just hoped she was calm enough to hear him out.

When he arrived at the door of the room Caitlin had rushed into earlier, he took a deep breath and knocked on it, half expecting to hear nothing from the other side.

"Yes?" Caitlin asked from the other side.

Damn it. Now it had to be done. Duo took a deep breath before he opened the door. He looked at her figure sitting on the bed and facing away from the door. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. He just hoped he wouldn't get burned. He opened his mouth to start, but Caitlin seemed to beat him to the punch.

"Why did you let me believe you were dead?" Caitlin asked with her head still turned away from him.

She certainly spoke her mind, for sure. Duo wasn't sure how to answer that question as easily as she had asked the question. "I had my reasons," he finally answered.

"For who?"

He finally closed the door and leaned against it for a moment before pulling up a chair and sitting across from her. Duo wasn't sure how to fight this fire at all, so he figured he'd start off from the beginning. "That day at the church, I couldn't find you," he finally answered. "When I only found your necklace in the rubble, I thought you were dead."

The moment that Duo pulled the necklace from his pocket was when he finally saw Caitlin turn her head his way. Though her face was tear-streaked and it looked that more tears would follow, he looked at her widening eyes as she saw what was in his hand.

"You kept it all this time?" she asked him, her voice losing the toughness it held a moment ago.

"Yeah," he answered. "It was the only thing helping me move on. Then a few months later, I saw that you were adopted. I saw your picture and knew it was you. I knew that once you were adopted, you would have a normal life, away from the streets, and you wouldn't have to worry about anything else in the world."

"But I needed my brother," Caitlin replied. "I just wanted my brother."

"I know you did, but I knew I couldn't give you what you needed. A home, somewhere safe and away from what we both went through… I couldn't give you that. And when I became a Gundam pilot, I knew I couldn't be around you."

"Why not?" Caitlin asked. "You're my brother. You could have let me know…"

Duo shook his head. "But I didn't want you to get hurt," he answered her. When he saw her blink, he had to continue before she opened her mouth. "If OZ, or even the Alliance, knew that you were my sister, they would go after you to get to me. They would have hurt you worse than anything we've ever survived."

Caitlin felt herself drying her eyes again, for what seemed to be the second time today she had to. All this time, her brother was just protecting her as he always did, only she wasn't able to see him actually doing it.

"That's why I couldn't tell you," he said. "I didn't want to think about what OZ would do to you if they knew you were my sister."

Caitlin blinked up at her brother, reaching out her hand to his shoulder but only stopping halfway. Part of her wasn't sure if she should move closer to him or just keep her distance. Finally the former option won out and her hand gently touched his shoulder. "You were protecting me?" she asked him. When she saw him nod his head, she stood up from the bed and hugged him.

Before he could say much more, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders. Duo wasn't sure what to make of it, but at least it looked like Caitlin understood why he never told her he was alive. "Someone's got to," he finally answered, hugging her back for a moment. But he knew that they weren't out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.

~;~;~;~;~

Down in the hangar where the suits were kept, the leader of the town and the leader of the Maganacs were with Duo, Quatre, and Caitlin at the top level while the other Maganacs stood below to look up at their leader.

"Everyone, listen up!" Rashid's voice carried throughout the hangar. "OZ has discovered this town and will be attacking! I doubt we will be able to deceive them any longer! Therefore, we will aim at one area of their barricade and resist while helping the civilians escape!"

The civilians were a reason the Maganac Corps had been successful; not one of them had been killed during the war. That and they were important to them; where they were, they were family.

Quatre felt his hand being held, and as he looked to the side, he saw that Caitlin was holding his hand gently in hers. "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

Caitlin nodded. "I just never got a chance to thank you or my brother for saving me," she whispered.

"It was nothing, really," Quatre replied. "We're just glad you weren't hurt."

"I just wish we met under much better circumstances."

 _Same here,_ Quatre thought to himself. Under better circumstances, he wouldn't have minded meeting Caitlin and talking to her as a normal person would. He just nodded at her gently and watched her smile for a second as he watched her face ahead of her.

"And one other honorable duty remains," Rashid spoke to the Maganacs. "We must get the Gundams out of the vicinity!"

At that, Quatre's eyes widened for a moment. What snapped him out of it was the leader of the town placing a hand on his shoulder. When he looked at Caitlin, he realized that he was holding her hand longer than he had intended. Still, he squeezed her hand gently. It wasn't to let her know about her still holding his hand; it was to let her know that she was going to be just fine.

Caitlin's other hand went to her brother's shoulder. There wasn't a thing she was able to do for them, other than give them as much support as they would need.

"The Gundams are heroes who came to Earth to destroy OZ," Rashid said to everyone. "Because of OZ's scheming, they won't be able to join this battle."

Caitlin looked at her brother and squeezed his shoulder. Why was she feeling so powerless? Why did she feel like she couldn't do a thing to help him, just like they had helped her? She wondered if fighting was the one way he would be all right again.

"However," Rashid continued, "there will be a day when the Gundams will save us all! Be thankful you can return the favor in advance! Do you understand?"

With that, the other Maganacs cheered for their leader and for everyone. When Rashid dismissed them to get ready for battle, Caitlin let both of the boys go. She wasn't sure why she was letting then go, but the moment she did, she watched them spring into action like two wound-up toy soldiers. She found herself running right behind them on impulse.

From that point on, it was an organized pandemonium. Some of the Maganacs were taking care of the civilians, making sure there were not one of them that were killed; surely that would blemish the Maganac Corp name.

While Duo and Quatre were getting their Gundams loaded into a carrier, Caitlin could only watch as she simply let them. Mostly, she watched them out of worry; would everyone make it out safely? She worried more about the people that were now involved in something they shouldn't have been to begin with than herself at the moment. She might be young, but she certainly wasn't stupid, by any means. Although it was hard to hear that her older brother was a Gundam pilot, she felt that she had to accept that this was what he wanted to do. Not that she didn't want him to fight, though.

But what worried her the most was that people who shouldn't have been involved were now involved because of some misunderstanding. She had been in that situation before, as well as her brother. And, just like the memories she had of long ago, she couldn't do a single thing to help them. At all.

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts and startled her back to reality. She looked up and saw her brother. Where he came from, she didn't know. Maybe she didn't want to know.

"You'd better get into the carrier," Duo told her. "Can't leave you here, you know."

Caitlin blinked and nodded without a word before she took off to the carrier.

Her brother simply watched her go to the carrier. At least one good thing came out of the past 24 hours; he finally got to see his sister face-to-face, although this wasn't the way he thought he'd ever get to see her. It sure wasn't the typical reunion he had been thinking about. Then again, what about being a Gundam pilot was normal?

Rashid noticed that Duo was watching the carrier like a hawk. "The good thing is that she understands why things are happening," he told him.

"She's always been like that," Duo answered. "Understanding, caring more for other people than herself." He chuckled ironically. "Funny, though. She always worried about me, even if she was sick. She could have died, and yet she would ask me if _I_ was okay."

"She has a piece of humanity for others," Rashid replied. "That's rare in this time. Don't let her lose that."

Duo had to admit; Rashid was right. Caitlin had always been like that since they were children. He just wanted to get her back home as fast as he could. At least if she was home, she was safe. Just exactly what he wanted her to be.

~;~;~;~;~

Caitlin walked around inside the carrier and looked at the two Gundams. She had been told from the time she was adopted that the Gundams were the enemies, and from what OZ was saying, they agreed. But as she looked at the events from the past 48 hours, she felt more conflicted than confused. If the Gundams really meant her harm, like OZ was saying, then why was she rescued by them? But then, what would happen when she arrived home? Would she have enough in her to tell her parents, and even Marco, that the Gundams were not the real enemy?

"Hey, Quatre!" she heard her brother's voice from outside the carrier.

Caitlin blinked. There was no way he was calling the same person who came from a prominent family that her father had talked about. And, just as she couldn't get any more surprised, the blond pilot who rescued her opened up the cockpit and looked outside. Now he looked familiar to her. His family owned numerous resource satellites in the colonies; she remembered reading about him a long while back. She felt bad for not recognizing him sooner.

"Yeah?" Quatre asked out.

"I got some flowers here for you, buddy!"

"I promise, one day, my Gundam will definitely fight again," Quatre mused mostly to himself.

Caitlin simply looked up at him. She wasn't sure what she could say that might help them feel better, or if there was anything she could do. But as it stood at the moment, she wasn't sure if _anything_ would help the situation.

Quatre got out of the mobile suit's cockpit and finally reached the floor of the cockpit. At that moment, he saw Caitlin looking at him.

"Will everyone be all right?" she finally asked.

At that question, he was stunned, but only slightly. He knew that Duo had told him about Caitlin's worrying about other people before herself. Quatre thought that it was a good trait to have, something that was so rare, like a flower in a desert. "Everyone will be fine," he answered, smiling at her gently. "The Maganacs know how to make sure of that."

Caitlin smiled back slightly. "I'm glad," she answered. "I'm just sorry that this had to happen. To everyone."

"It's not your fault," he answered. "You haven't done anything to where you have to apologize."

"I'm just on the wrong side."

"Family-wise. But you have to decide for yourself whose side you want to be on."

Caitlin nodded her head in agreement. Quatre did seem to have a good point. At some point, she'd have to stop being confused and start deciding on a side to be on. If she didn't, then things would only go from bad to worse. She watched Quatre go to the cockpit of the carrier they were in and followed him.

Duo found his way into the carrier and went into the cockpit. Quatre was on the far right while Caitlin in the middle. "So, ready to go?" he asked.

Quatre nodded and started up the carrier. He kept his mind on the task at hand, to get the carrier out of the area. He looked out the carrier and saw the Maganacs fighting off OZ Tragos suits. He had no idea what he could do to help them.

Neither did Caitlin, except when she looked surprised as she saw Duo leave the cockpit. Before she could say a word, she simply watched as the door to the cockpit closed behind him. What was he going to do?

"Quatre?" Duo's voice seemed to be coming from in the back.

"Yes?" Quatre asked him.

"Could you circle the sky, just once?"

Caitlin simply tilted her head in confusion. Why was he asking this?

"I can't help them now, but I still want to do something…" Duo answered.

Quatre nodded his head slightly. "Sure thing," he replied, turning the carrier around.

Before Caitlin could open her mouth, she heard explosions from the ground. She looked out and blinked at what she saw: her brother was firing onto the enemy. Not long after the last shot was fired, the Maganacs fired flares, which made the ground light up like sparkling stars. She hoped that the people on the ground were going to be all right.

"See you again, Maganac Corps," Quatre stated.

"And the next time we meet, I'll make sure the colonies' thoughts are united," Duo added from his Gundam. "Count on it."

Where were they going? Why was Quatre, someone so kind and considerate, a Gundam pilot of all things? Caitlin knew the reasons with her own brother being one, but there was still more she wanted to know.

And at the moment, just being safe was enough. For a while.

~;~;~;~;~

(On the next chapter: Conflicting ideals are difficult for anyone to grasp. While staying at the Winner Mansion with no way to return home, Caitlin comes to terms with the questions she hasn't asked. With the Gundam pilots still unable to fight, the task is getting harder by the minute. Meanwhile, in the colonies, Caitlin's father and fiancée are faced with a daunting decision affecting OZ. Next on Gundam Wing: Gemini, Chapter 4: Betrayal From Home.)


	4. Betrayal from Home

Gundam Wing: Gemini

Chapter 4: Betrayal From Home

(Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Just Caitlin. I thought I'd have one chapter where I didn't have to repeat myself… but oh, well.)

(AN: Just looks like things are going to only go downhill for them. And yes, I do have a feeling it would only get worse.)

~;~;~;~;~;~

It had been a month, and there had been no word on whether Caitlin had been found. At the Lane mansion, Marshall couldn't bear to consider the fact that Caitlin may very likely have been killed by the Gundams, but with each passing day with no news on her, he started to think that very possibility was true. Marshall had to look at the facts; it had been a month, and there was still nothing from his daughter saying that she was all right, or even if she was alive to begin with. The Alliance was losing strength in the colonies, and with their now-limited resources, there was no way if he was ever going to see Caitlin again.

Marco, however, refused to believe it. There was no way he was ever going to accept his beloved was gone for good. "Sir, there's no way in hell I'll believe that Miss Caitlin's gone," he said. "I love her with all my heart, and it just ticks me off that I couldn't go with her when she needed me."

"Oh, Marco," Hannah said, gently hugging Marco around his shoulders. "It's been over a month. Why did those Gundams have to kidnap her? She was just going to perform! She wasn't doing anything wrong!"

Marco balled his hands into fists as he wrapped an arm around Hannah's shoulders. His innocent fiancée was in the hands of the enemy, and there wasn't a single thing he could do. He wanted to find the Gundam pilots and demand they bring her back home. So many things he wanted to do to the people that stole her. So many things he wanted to say to them.

And still, so many things he wanted to tell Caitlin when he saw her again.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Michael walked to the door and opened it. "Yes?" he asked, blinking at the sight of what looked to be OZ uniforms.

In the middle of the uniformed soldiers was a woman with a blue blazer and skirt. Her long brown hair reached to the small of her back while her hands were in front of her. "Yes, we're here to see the Lane family," she stated.

Before Michael could say a word, Marshall had opened the other door to let them in while saluting them at the same time. "Please, come in," he offered. While they walked in, Marshall looked at Michael, who walked from the door to the kitchen to prepare some tea. "I'm sorry about that," Marshall stated to the group. "He's been on edge since our daughter's been abducted last month."

"It's all right," the woman in blue answered as she entered the living room where Hannah and Marco were.

Marco stood up and saluted the officers.

"At ease," one of the officers said, watching Marco relax slightly.

The woman in blue noticed that Marco's hands were balling into fists. "It's all right," she told him. "I only want to assist you in returning what you have lost."

Hannah stood up from the couch. "You've found Caitlin?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, no," one of the soldiers said.

"But we at OZ understand how much she means to you," the woman in blue added. "As the daughter of a prominent family and a singer, she is important to not only her fans, but also to her family."

Marshall stood next to his wife. "Our daughter means more to us than anything," he replied. "For a month, my wife has been crying and praying for her to return home."

Marco looked at a picture of Caitlin that was taken after one of her performances on the colony. How could someone be so evil as to kidnap a person who had nothing to do with the current situation? Someone who was as selfless and considerate as his fiancée?

Marshall looked over at Marco and nodded. "Caitlin means the world to Marco as well," he continued. "Since the day of their engagement, he has wanted nothing more than to be with her."

Marco continued to look at the picture of his beloved. "I shouldn't have let her go alone," he said. "If I could have not worked that day…"

"Don't blame yourself," Marshall answered. "The Gundams could have killed you, and that would have Caitlin completely devastated. You wouldn't want that for her, would you, Marco?"

Marco shook his head. The last thing he wanted to see was the sad look on his fiancée's face if she was to hear something bad had happened to him. "Just thinking of her… and what they are doing to her… I can't bear it…"

The woman in blue sighed. Apparently, she meant a lot to her family, and returning her home would be the first step in gaining peace in the colonies. One of them, anyway. "I came here today to offer my assistance to help you bring her home," she said with a level of compassion in her voice.

Marshall and Hannah both looked at her while Marshall wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Ma'am, we would do anything to have our daughter home," Marshall announced.

Marco, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to say about that. He didn't trust OZ any more than he wanted to. But as it stood now, the Alliance didn't have many resources left. And if the Alliance couldn't help find Caitlin and bring her home, and OZ had enough resources to do so, then what exactly did he have to lose?

The woman in blue smiled and nodded her head. "As you are her parents, I know you would," she answered.

She then turned to Marco. Surely her fiancée would also share in the sentiment. "And you, Officer Young?" she asked him.

Marco took a deep breath. It was times like this when he would have to swallow his pride and focus on something other than himself, such as Caitlin's safety. If OZ could help in bringing her home, what did he really have to lose?

~;~;~;~;~;~

At the Winner mansion on Earth, Quatre watched a news report in the evening. OZ seemed to be taking over the colonies, which was something that didn't stick very well with him. But what he didn't expect was seeing a young man around their age in an OZ uniform. He had black hair and blue eyes and he seemed to hold a picture of a very familiar girl in his hand.

"Everyone," the young man stated on the TV. "My name is Marco Young, and Caitlin Lane is my fiancée. She was taken by the Gundam pilots one month ago, and there has been no word from the Alliance to where she has been taken…"

Duo stood against the wall and crossed his arms against his chest. A month had come and gone, and while some would have caught up by now, he hadn't. Although Duo had to admit something; Caitlin was almost as he remembered her. He looked at the TV and shook his head. So this was her fiancée… looked like it was much too soon for something that permanent. As much as he hated to think about it, he had to say something. "So they're just snatching up whatever's left of the Alliance now," he said.

"Miss Caitlin's fiancée is joining the wrong side," Quatre answered. "This isn't going to be easy to tell her…"

Before Quatre could continue, his worst fears were realized as he heard a startled gasp from behind him.

Caitlin stood in the doorway, her blue eyes wide in shock and horror. This couldn't be happening. First OZ was trying to make up a story about her being abducted, then the colonies were buying into it, and now her fiancée was in an OZ uniform? Just what the hell was going on?

At this point, she had to be handled delicately, but she wasn't hearing any of that. And from where Quatre was now standing, it just seemed to be the thing that really riled her up.

Caitlin's eyes seemed to border on shock and anger, and with each second that ticked on the clock, it seemed to be more of the latter. "You're kidding…" she finally spoke.

Quatre started to comment back to her, but he realized she wasn't looking at him; she was looking at the TV and at her fiancée in an OZ uniform. At this point, he figured she had to get it out.

"Joining a bunch of cowards like OZ? Just to bring me home? What is wrong with you?" Caitlin continued.

At the moment, Duo was happy that she was finally figuring out the truth. But unfortunately, it turned into a look of concern. Sure he wanted her to know the truth, but this wasn't the way he imagined that she would find out. He gave Quatre a look and a shake of his head. Normally, Caitlin wasn't like this, but considering the pressure and turmoil she was in at the moment, he knew that she'd have to let it out.

"Why would you do something that selfish and that foolish?" Caitlin asked, her eyes still on the television.

But before either of the pilots could react, they watched as Caitlin simply stormed out after the outburst. Duo looked at the doorway and took a deep breath. Why did his own sister have to be involved into this war, of all things? "She really didn't need to hear that," he mused.

Quatre nodded his head. "With everything going on, this was something she didn't need to see," he agreed. "Do you think she'll be all right?"

"Upset wouldn't be the word I'd use right now," Duo answered. "Maybe confused."

"Finding out her fiancée went from the Alliance to OZ wasn't something she was expecting."

"Yeah…"

With that, Duo let his mind wander. Under most circumstances, he would have been happy that his sister finally saw OZ for what they were: a bunch of lowly cowards who would threaten anyone to get what they wanted. However, it wasn't the case now. His sister was likely hurt and confused from what she had just watched. More than that, she was likely now more terrified than she would ever show.

"I better check on her," Quatre said. "There's no telling how she'll handle it no matter who tells her."

When Quatre left the room, he decided to try to find her. The poor girl wasn't in any shape to listen to reason, but maybe if he could put it into perspective, it would help her more.

Duo simply watched Quatre like a hawk as he followed. Sure Quatre had some good intentions, and it showed with how he was worried about Caitlin in general, but at the same time, while he had been fine with Quatre checking on her, Duo still felt a little uneasy. So he figured he'd look out at them and make sure that nothing happened. Not that Duo thought of the worst with Quatre around, but still… Caitlin was his sister, after all, and a big brother's job was to make sure his sister was looked after. Even if he had to spy on him to make sure of that.

~;~;~;~;~;~

Caitlin opened a door and closed it behind her. Maybe she could use some sleep. It had been a rough journey, and maybe the sleep was something that would cheer her up. But as she turned on the light, her eyes widened in shock. This was what she was not expecting to see.

Inside the room, aside from the already curtained windows and the warm toned walls, was a grand piano and sheet music on the stand. On the shelf against the wall was more sheet music, along with books about different artists, and it didn't take Caitlin long to realize the type of room it was. It was a conservatory, but more importantly, it reminded her of home.

She sat down at the piano and tapped a key gently. The piano had been tuned recently, from what she heard. What was she going to do? She felt bad for playing someone's piano without permission, but maybe singing off sheet music wouldn't hurt as much.

Quatre was about to open the door when he listened on the other side of the door.

"'All those days, watching from the windows, all those years outside looking in…'"

As much as Quatre knew about her, singing something that wasn't one of her singles or on any albums she had released was different than normal. Maybe she was working on a new one? But why did she sound so sad? It was like listening to an angel with clipped wings, trying to fly and struggling to stay in the air. Taking a chance, he decided to open the door slowly and peer his head inside the room.

Caitlin was sitting on the piano seat and had her back to the door. Her voice seemed to sound uneasy on one part of the song she was singing, mainly from the stress of earlier in the night. She looked at the sheet music, frantically trying to find what note she should have sung.

"Oh, I had that right before…" Caitlin said to herself, looking at the sheet music, running her finger over the words until she found it. "'Light' was supposed to be a C, right?"

"A B flat, actually," a person's voice came from the door.

The sound made Caitlin startled and she scrambled out of the seat in record time. As she looked at the door, a hand over her rapidly beating heart, she saw Quatre walk into the room while she looked like a deer in the headlights. "Mr. Quatre, you scared me," she said, trying to sound calmer.

"I'm sorry."

Caitlin blinked. Why was he apologizing? "For what?" she asked.

"For startling you," he answered. "That and what you had to hear tonight from your fiancée about…"

"I-It's okay," she answered.

"No, it isn't," Quatre replied. "You shouldn't have had to see that, what your fiancée was doing with OZ…"

"W-Why would he do that?" Caitlin asked, turning her head away with her eyes closed. "Why would he do something that foolish?"

Now that was a question Quatre didn't expect out of her. Or maybe he did. He took a deep breath to make sure what he had to say wasn't going to make her more upset than she already was. "If I had to guess, I think he was desperate," he answered.

"Desperate?" Caitlin echoed.

Quatre nodded. "He wanted you back home, and with the Alliance losing power by the day, he didn't see any other choice than to join OZ," he explained.

Caitlin finally looked over at him. "He didn't have a choice?" she asked. "Like he was forced?"

"Very likely," Quatre answered. "I just wish you didn't have to see that…"

"It wouldn't have been easy, right? Going from one side to another?"

"It never is," Quatre replied. "But when someone is desperate, especially when someone they love is, in their mind at least, in danger, they'll do anything to save them."

"Oh…" Caitlin seemed to look calmer than before.

"So, I couldn't help but hear you," Quatre said, changing the subject. After seeing Caitlin's confused face, he added, "about earlier, the song is in A, B, and D flat."

"Y-You know music?" Caitlin asked before mentally kicking herself for asking something so obvious.

"It relaxes me when I'm stressed out," Quatre answered, gently smiling at her.

At that point she realized she still had the sheet music in her hands. "I-I'm sorry, I was just…"

"Practicing?" Quatre offered.

"I-I knew I was getting rusty," Caitlin admitted. "But f-from what I heard from Mr. Marco…"

"Well, stress doesn't exactly help with singing, I've heard," he said, gently taking the sheet music from her hands. It was at that point he looked at the title. "'I See the Light.' It's pretty, isn't it?"

Caitlin looked down at the floor. "Y-Yes, it is," she answered. "I hadn't seen that one before…"

"It's new," he answered. "It's rather challenging, in fact, if one was to sing alone."

"So, it's a… duet?" Caitlin asked him.

"Essentially, yes."

~;~;~;~;~;~

Duo listened to their conversation from outside the room. He chuckled to himself at the memory of when he first heard her sing as a child. Seven years old, and she sang "Away in a Manger" for charity, and she even had a fever when she sang. Caitlin always did things for others, even if she was in no condition to.

The only regret he had was that he only had a month to catch up seven years with, and that was harder than most people realized. Keeping her out of the loop as far as him being a Gundam pilot was harder than he wanted to accept. Sure she knew, but to have to tell her that she couldn't talk about him as if he was alive hurt him inside. This was his little sister, for crying out loud! After all that time of not seeing her and now this was something he'd have to tell her… just how could he do it? How could he tell his little sister to act as if he was dead all over again?

His reverie was broken as he happened to listen in on Quatre and Caitlin's conversation.

In the music room, Quatre saw her cheeks tinge a shade of pink nearing that of a hibiscus. Either Caitlin was naïve, or she just didn't know the song. "You didn't know that was a duet?" he asked her.

Caitlin shook her head. "No," she answered. "Was it bad?"

"Not at all," Quatre stated with a gentle smile. "You were just nervous, and that can cause you to go off-key."

"Maybe one day I'll be able to sing it."

"I don't doubt you will," he answered. "If you don't mind me saying, you do have a beautiful voice."

Caitlin smiled up at him. "Thank you," she said. "I'm not perfect, though…"

"And that's fine, really. It just shows that there is room to grow."

"But who would I sing it with?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, the song is new, so it wouldn't be hard to find someone to sing it with…"

"Could I hear it played? So I'll know what it sounds like?"

If there were words for what Quatre had just felt at the moment, it would have been that he had stepped into the lion's den. He just hoped he wouldn't be devoured by any lions. And considering just who was outside the door, he knew he'd have to play it safe. VERY safe. That and he had to figure out about her.

"Of course," he answered, walking to the piano and hearing Caitlin follow behind him. After he sat down on one side of the seat, he started playing, and with that, he heard her follow along with the words like before. Maybe she was more nervous than what she was letting on, but that didn't mean that her voice was just as she was on the albums, natural and full of emotion.

Duo listened to his little sister and closed his eyes. She had an amazing talent, one that could have been silenced forever if things hadn't happened the way they had at the moment. But this time was different; she sounded confident in herself. Whatever Quatre must have said to her, it helped, because there was a confidence in her voice that wasn't there earlier. Maybe there was more to the blond than he had let on.

"'Now that I see you…'"

Both in the music room had finished singing and had their eyes closed. But the second Quatre opened his, he realized several things. Caitlin had sat next to him on the piano seat, her eyes were also closed, her voice sounded natural as it should have been, but the most obvious was that their noses were almost too close to each other.

Before he could say a thing, he saw Caitlin's eyes open and soon they found themselves looking at each other. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have minded it, but now that Quatre was thinking, it wasn't a good idea. One, her brother was right outside the door, two, she was already engaged to someone else, and three… in all respect, he was one of OZ's most wanted. Under the circumstances as of now, it simply wouldn't work out from that alone.

On top of that, he was a gentleman. He wouldn't dream of doing something that improper with her.

"Was it okay?" Caitlin asked him. "As a duet, I mean…"

"It sounded wonderful," he answered her, finally forcing his body to straighten up. "That high B flat sounded easy for you."

Caitlin straightened herself on the piano seat. "Well, sadly, that's the highest note I can go without hurting my throat," she said.

"It'll get better in time."

Duo listened to them from outside and smiled. His little sister sure had grown up to be something.

~;~;~;~;~;~

The next day, things only seemed to go from bad to worse. First it was Caitlin's fiancée who had joined OZ, and from the way Quatre was looking at the latest report outside, there was one more hiccup on Caitlin going home: her own father sided with OZ as well. It didn't matter at the end of it, really; either way, Caitlin was going home to more drama than she needed.

"Even my father?" Caitlin asked from the other seat.

"Probably more desperate now than before," Duo answered from one of the pillars. He had his arms crossed against his chest. He looked over at Caitlin and instantly wanted to not have to talk to her about it, but he didn't have a choice. His first priority was keeping Caitlin safe, at least until she made it back to the colonies. Now the trouble was to get her to understand why he was going to tell her what was thinking of saying. But as he thought about it, he thought that she was going to be bombarded with questions about her "abduction." "Could we talk, Caitlin?" he asked her.

Caitlin blinked up at him. "Okay," she answered before she stood up and walked with her brother out of earshot from Quatre. "What's going on? If it's about the suits, I'll never say anything."

Now Duo had to tell her, even if it was going to hurt him more than it would hurt her. "It's not just the suits I'm worried about," he answered. "It's everything else."

"Like what?" Caitlin asked, blinking at him in confusion.

"Like the soldiers."

Caitlin blinked at him. "What about them?" she asked.

 _Damn, Caitlin's naiveté is strong,_ he thought. "If they knew everything that you've seen, they won't care about who your father is," he answered out loud. "They'll interrogate you into getting what they want."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

And what Duo had to tell her next was what hurt the most. "Don't say anything," he answered.

Caitlin blinked at him, her blue eyes wide in shock. "Brother, you know me more than anyone else," she protested. "I'm a terrible liar."

"Well, your nervousness might sell it."

Sure Duo had been joking when he said it, but Caitlin could tell there was a hint of truth in that sentence. Caitlin was, for lack of a better word, nervous about going back to the colonies. Her father and her fiancée both switched their allegiances to OZ from the Alliance, and there were likely people in the colonies that would not let that stand. Plus, there was the obvious fact that Duo and Caitlin looked alike, and that alone made her more scared than before.

But Duo did have a point. Caitlin was scared, and rightly so, but at the moment, her being scared meant that any story she would tell, other than the obvious truth, would be believed by anyone.

"You're asking the impossible," Caitlin said, holding her hand to her chest and trying not to sound upset. "You're telling me I have to act like my brother doesn't exist? I have to act like you're not my brother?"

And that was what Duo was afraid to tell her, but he had no choice. And from the look in Caitlin's eyes, he knew his choice had to be right. "It's to keep you safe," he answered. "If OZ knew that you were my sister, they would use you as bait to get to me. You'd just be leverage for them to get what they wanted, and you'd get hurt in the process. I can't let that happen."

"I-I know, but…" she started.

"Just until the war's over," he interrupted. "It'll be safe then."

Caitlin realized that, once again, this was an argument she wasn't going to win. By any means. And she knew it. It just wasn't fair; her brother was alive and well, but she would have to act like that never happened. That her brother was gone. That her brother… never existed.

But it didn't stop her from asking, "What if they put two and two together?"

As upset as Caitlin was, Duo knew she had a point. There was the off chance that she could be caught lying when she arrived back. He shuddered inside thinking about what could happen to her if that was the case. He had to think about her safety; if OZ knew she was his sister, there was no telling just what they would do to her. And he didn't really want to think about that. "Then I'll do like I've always done: protect you," he answered.

"How?"

"I have my ways," he answered. "Look, don't worry, all right? Just play it by ear. If anything, just say you didn't see anything. It might piss them off, but it'll at least get them off your back."

"I don't know if I can…"

"You have it in you," Duo answered. "It's not really lying."

Quatre watched them talk and knew that it had to be important for Caitlin, and themselves, to get back to the colonies safely. With whatever means they had to work with. He watched Caitlin nod her head and the siblings hug each other. She was so scared, but this was the way things had to be.

~;~;~;~;~;~

On their way to Singapore, the trip was quiet, and to Quatre, that didn't sound good to start with. He had his thoughts about what the siblings were talking about, but it wasn't his place to just butt in and ask about it.

But it, unfortunately, was Caitlin that broke the silence.

"I'm sorry we all met like this," she said. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

She said the same thing Quatre had been thinking. The one month that he had known her, she rarely said anything for herself. She was almost like an angel, caring more for other people than she did for herself. Duo certainly had an interesting younger sister.

"We do, too," Quatre finally answered. He never thought he'd have the opportunity to hear her sing privately. But at that moment, a flood of thoughts came to his mind. Would she really be okay? What if something happened? Would she be able to get help? And perhaps the worst of all, would he even see her again?

"Could you both do me a favor? Survive."

Duo and Quatre both looked at each other for a moment. Caitlin, in the time they knew her, never asked anything for herself. Silently, they agreed that her request was one that they could at least grant for her. In order for them to make it to space, they had to survive.

When they arrived, however, it seemed to be harder than they had anticipated. Acting on a whim, Duo decided to have Caitlin run to the control tower. It wasn't that he didn't want her with him at the moment; it was that he was more concerned for her safety. He didn't want her to get seriously hurt from the battle because she wasn't strapped in.

"What about you two?" Caitlin asked her brother and was stunned for her brother to hold her tightly for a moment.

Duo held her for a moment, mostly as a way of reassurance. "We'll be there in a while," he answered. "You'll be safe there, I promise. Just run and don't look behind you for anything."

Caitlin nodded her head. She didn't want to leave her brother, but at the moment, she had to do what he said. "Okay," she said. "Just be careful."

With that, he watched her take off and run. At least Duo made sure she didn't see any more than she needed to.

It seemed to be a good idea at the time, anyway. Caitlin heard noises behind her and kept running, but she turned around to look for a moment and watched her the two Gundams enter battle before she entered the ground floor door of the control tower. As she sneaked up to the control tower, she became more worried about her brother and even Quatre as well. Would they be okay out there? There were so many OZ suits out there.

One of the monitors came on unexpectedly, and from what Caitlin saw on one of the screens on the panel, her eyes only grew wide in horror.

"We wish to publicly announce a decision made by Space Colony Area D," a representative announced on the screen. "Mobile Suits known as Gundams are currently destroying OZ facilities on Earth. These Gundams have nothing to do with Colony Area D. We hereby declare that if the Gundams consider OZ their enemy, then we will consider the Gundams ours!"

"What?" Caitlin wanted to shout, but her voice wouldn't cooperate.

"OZ has been fair to us," the representative continued. "OZ and we have worked out our misunderstandings. We hope the Gundams are defeated in this battle, and we hope that the other colonies will follow our example."

Caitlin shook her head at this recent change of events. What was going on? First her fiancée and her father switched over to OZ, and now the colonies were declaring the Gundams their enemies?

She watched in horror as the two Gundams were knocked down by OZ attacks, which only made her more confused. Should she side with the Gundams or with her parents? Her brother whom she hadn't seen in years, or the family that took her in and raised her as one of their own?

What shocked her was that there was another suit, this one that had a dragon arm. Was this another Gundam? Were there more than just the two she had witnessed? She watched them battle the OZ suits and still looked confused as before. Even three against that many OZ suits; that was a battle that was not going to be easy. She looked down at the panel and saw so many buttons before she closed her eyes. Were they all going to be okay? Why did all of this have to happen?

She heard noises coming out from outside of the door and she hid in a dark corner of the room. She cursed the fact she was wearing pastels for something like this. She just had to hope no one saw her. She watched the door open and her breathing hitched into her throat. Was it OZ?

"Hey, you in here?" a familiar voice asked.

"Brother?" she whispered before going to the door and seeing her brother. "What's going on?"

"I'm getting the shuttles set up. You're going back home."

Caitlin smiled for probably the first time in a long while, but that changed with one word.

"Alone."

"W-What?" Caitlin asked. "Brother, I don't get it."

Duo walked over to one of the panels and started tapping buttons, seemingly knowing which ones to press. "Caitlin, don't start," he said.

"Why can't I go back with you?" Caitlin protested.

"Because it's too dangerous," Duo answered before taking a deep breath. "Look, I know you want to go back with me, but if they saw you with me, then they would think one of two things: One, the Gundams still have you hostage; or two, you're sided with us. And if OZ found out the latter, then they would use you to get to me."

At that point, she blinked. Someone was missing. "Mr. Quatre… where is he?" she asked.

"He's still fighting the Leos," Duo answered.

Caitlin blinked again, looking out at the lone Gundam fighting the Leos.

"And… we got it," Duo said before looking up at her. "Come on, we gotta go…." He raced to the window that Caitlin was looking out. "Hurry up, Quatre!"

Caitlin felt like a ribbon being tugged by a twig as her brother pulled her just as she heard the announcement of a Gundam operating the HLV Mobile Suit shuttle spacecraft. She followed her brother while she was worried about Quatre. Why was he doing this?

"Those suits will shoot us down the minute we take off!" Quatre seemed to answer Duo.

Duo helped Caitlin into a spacesuit. He wanted to make sure she got out before he or Quatre did. It wouldn't look good if she was to leave after the Gundams did. "Okay, now, get in," he said.

Caitlin kept wanting to protest, but the look on her brother's face was something that told her that, like always, her older brother would win the argument. She finally relented and stepped inside the shuttle, but she blinked as Duo set the course. "Brother? How did you know which colony I came from?" she asked.

"Not that hard to figure that out," he answered, still tapping keys for a moment, making the shuttle go on a timer. "Okay, direct route to the colonies. Now, don't touch a thing on this unless someone talks to you. Then you press this button…" Duo pointed to one in particular. "That's the ONLY one you press, you hear me?"

Caitlin looked at her brother and nodded. "Brother… where's Mr. Quatre?" she asked, shock filling her features.

Duo seemed to shout from the hangar, "Quatre, hurry up!"

"Don't worry about me!" Quatre answered. "I'll back you three up until you lift off!"

"What?!" Caitlin asked, completely stunned by what she heard. Was he doing this out of chivalry, or was it possible that Quatre really had lost it?

"Have you lost your mind or something?!" Duo shouted back. "We all got to make it out to space!"

"I know, but that's why I have to back you up!" Quatre responded. "To make sure that at least the three of you will make it!"

"Quatre!"

Caitlin almost couldn't say anything while her brother did say the same thing she was thinking. Why was Quatre doing this? Why was he risking his own life for people he hadn't known for long?

"Please! I can't take this much longer!" Quatre pleaded.

"I'm grateful," the third pilot who had joined them responded. "The only way I can show my appreciation is to make it to outer space safely."

Caitlin looked at her brother after she had put the helmet on her head. "Is he crazy?" she asked.

 _I hope not,_ Duo thought out loud as he heard his sister ask that question. But still, what Quatre was doing was completely foolish. "You fool!" he shouted at the blond pilot.

"Brother?" Caitlin asked. "What about you and Mr. Quatre?"

"We'll be fine," Duo answered, closing the door to the shuttle. "It's gonna be bumpy, so strap in and hold on."

"Brother?" Caitlin asked just as the shuttle started up.

"You'll be fine!" he reassured her as the shuttle powered up and left. Now all he had to do was get in one and go up to space as well.

Meanwhile, Quatre had all intentions of self-detonating. At least one of the best things in his life was to meet her, even though he barely got to know anything about her. But when he noticed that Sandrock was helping him escape, he thanked the Gundam and escaped. He saw the three shuttles already going away before he had started his own shuttle and made it into space.

It was rather turbulent, but at the same time, his Gundam did pave the way for all of them to make it. All he could hope was that everyone made it safely. But at the moment, Quatre's body felt as if he had been thrown around in a sandstorm, so he kept himself calm to keep from feeling much more pain than he already felt. He closed his eyes, thinking that at least everyone made it safely.

The four shuttles, along with the other two, all left the Earth and went up into space. Their destinations were unknown.

And their intentions? Unknown, at least to the enemy.

~;~;~;~;~;~

(On the Next Chapter: Returning home is harder than one realizes. Finding out that the colonies have all sided with OZ, Caitlin's homecoming comes at a terrible price. After Duo is captured by OZ, Caitlin must decide if she follows his advice or gets herself put in hot water. Next on Gundam Wing: Gemini – Chapter 5: Sage Advice.)


	5. Sage Advice

Gundam Wing: Gemini

Chapter 5: Sage Advice

(Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing in any way. I do own Caitlin, her family, and the NPCs cause well… I do. Believe me, I don't want to own it, but if I did, it'd have been redubbed for sure.)

;-;-;-;-;-;

Outside of the colony, OZ Space Leo suits were on high alert. Inside one of these Leos was Marco Young, Caitlin's fiancée. He was tasked with making sure the shuttles never reached the colonies, but part of him wanted to refuse that order. There was no telling where his fiancée was or what had been done to her already. He wanted to be there for her when she came back.

"Officer Young!" one of his comrades said into his intercom.

"Yes?" Marco answered.

"One of the six shuttles is headed here!"

Marco pressed the comm button, not knowing just what or who was inside the shuttle. Could it be one of the Gundams? Would they know where his beloved was? "Shuttle, I ask that you identify yourself," he said.

Inside the shuttle, Caitlin blinked her eyes open after she had been asleep for a short while. She looked at a single blinking button and pressed it, unsure if it was the same button she was told was the only one to press. "H-Hello?" she asked. "Can anyone hear me?"

When Marco heard the voice, his jaw dropped. It definitely was not an enemy. No… he knew that tender voice anywhere. "Miss Caitlin? Is that you?" he asked, his voice showing more hope than likely his comrades would have wanted to hear.

"Mr. Marco? Y-Yes, it's me."

Marco took a deep breath to compose himself while he celebrated on the inside. Just a little while longer, and he could hold her until he didn't have the strength in his arms to do it anymore. "Miss Caitlin, I need you to follow everything I say to the letter, okay?" he asked her.

"Okay…" Caitlin's voice was choked with emotion.

"I'll get you home, I promise," Marco promised.

"All right," she answered and listened to all he had to say.

;-;-;-;-;-;

Once the shuttle arrived at the colony, with Marco's patience and experience, as well as Caitlin's eagerness to return home, Marco opened the door to the shuttle. "Miss Caitlin? It's all right; we're safe," Marco said.

Caitlin turned around and hugged him, gently sobbing into his shoulder.

Marco raked his hand through her hair. At least she wasn't hurt, from what he could tell. _She's shaking,_ he thought to himself. _She must have gone through a lot, but she's here now._ "It's all right, my angel," he reassured her. "Come on, I'll get you home."

Caitlin nodded her head into his shoulder wordlessly. In essence, she was having to act like something did happen. But she was in fact relieved to be going home to her parents.

Her relief only turned into shock as flashes came around both Marco and her. Evidently, reporters had found out about Caitlin being returned home, and word spread like a wild fire. It was moments like this that made her wish she wasn't famous.

"Officer Young, how does it feel for your fiancée to have come home?" one reporter asked.

Another reporter asked, "Officer Young, what are your first reactions to reuniting with Miss Lane?"

The questions seemed to come from everywhere, and considering the state Caitlin was in, she simply grabbed her fiancée and hugged him with her head into his shoulder.

Marco hugged her back, even after hearing a group of "Awws" and "That's so sweet." "I believe my fiancée has dealt with a lot of things she'd rather not talk about," Marco said to them. "We've had over a month apart, so I would just make sure she is home and safe. Please excuse us."

With that, Marco led his fiancée through the reporters and the flashes before leading her to a car. "We need to take her to the hospital," he told the driver after they had gotten in.

"Yes, sir," the driver said.

"T-The hospital?" Caitlin asked, blinking up at Marco.

Marco nodded. "I'll call your father and have him meet us there," he answered. "It's just routine procedure for what happened to you."

Caitlin looked out the window without answering him. It wasn't like he wasn't worried about her; maybe Caitlin was just unsure how to play it. She just wanted to go home, and the sooner, the better. She felt like she was in an impossible situation, having to simply side against the Gundams just to stay alive. And maybe, just maybe, it was weighing down on her more than she thought.

When Marco looked over at his fiancée, he mentally slapped himself. His fiancée likely went through something terrifying, and here he was talking about regulations to her. "Honey, I…"

"I-I'm sorry…"

Marco wrapped his arm around her shoulders as the car headed to the hospital. "It's all right," he reassured her. "You don't have to apologize. You were scared, and you just wanted to go home, so don't worry."

Caitlin looked up at Marco, tears falling from her eyes. "I-I should have been a-able to answer them…"

Marco shook his head before drying her eyes. "Not after what you went through, honey," he consoled her, moving a section of her hair behind her ear. "I think that once you're checked out and then at home, you'll feel much better."

Seeing her father would help her feel better, but it still made her sick to think that her father and her fiancée had switched over to OZ. Even with that on her mind, Caitlin nodded her head. Maybe seeing her parents would help her feel better. In her heart, she was so upset with how things went. She finally found someone she hadn't seen in years, only for her to find out something that would likely get her killed if she opened her mouth about it.

;-;-;-;-;-;

At the hospital, things swirled around for the singer. Temperature was normal, she didn't look malnourished, and other than some healed scratches, Caitlin looked relatively like she always did.

"She's very lucky," a doctor was saying to her parents while looking at the girl looking out of the window. "However, it might be wise to keep her out of the public eye for a while. At least until she's recovered completely."

"Completely?" Marshall asked.

"There's simply no telling what they have done to her emotionally," the doctor explained. "I haven't found out what it is, and she hasn't spoken much about what happened."

"She's been through too much right now," Hannah answered. "Caitlin, dear, would you like to go home?"

At that point, Caitlin finally turned around and looked at her parents, tears falling down her cheeks. "Yes, Mother," she answered, her voice choked with emotion.

"Thank you, Doctor," Marshall said.

"She needs a lot of rest," the doctor answered with a nod. "When she feels like talking about it, she will. Don't force it out of her."

Marshall nodded his head. "We'll do that," he answered.

;-;-;-;-;-;

The ride back home was quieter than anyone had wanted. Still, Caitlin had gone through a terrifying ordeal, so rest was definitely one of the things that she would be doing. The moment that they walked through the front doors into the foyer, Michael greeted them.

"Oh, mistress, we're all so glad you made it home safely," Michael said.

Caitlin looked up at Michael and tried her hardest to smile and look normal, although that would not happen. "Thank you," she answered.

"Michael, would you help Caitlin up the stairs?" Hannah suggested. "She needs to rest."

"Yes, ma'am," Michael answered as he helped Caitlin up the stairs.

Hannah looked at her husband and Marco. "I wish Caitlin would talk to us about what happened," she said. "I feel so powerless to help her."

"She will," Marshall answered. "We just have to let her rest. She probably went through something horrible."

Marco watched his fiancée enter her bedroom and sighed. There was nothing for him to do at the moment, other than be grateful she was finally home. And he was more than grateful for that. Sadly, he was just as powerless to get anything out of her as well. Something must have happened to his beloved while they were separated.

In Caitlin's bedroom, Caitlin sat down at the vanity and looked in the mirror. She wasn't even sure why she was doing that, but at the moment, she didn't think that acting as normal was a good idea now.

"Miss Caitlin, would you like some chamomile tea?" Michael asked her from the doorway. Chamomile was good for soothing someone's nerves, and considering that his mistress was undoubtedly upset, this would do nicely.

"Thank you," she answered. "That would be wonderful."

"I shall bring it to you quickly," Michael replied. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we're happy you're home, Miss Caitlin."

Caitlin mustered a smile and a nod, at least one that didn't show too much worry. "Thank you," she repeated. "I'm glad to be home again."

Michael smiled gently. "I'll bring you some tea," he said.

Caitlin watched Michael leave the room and close the door behind him before she took a deep breath, letting her smile falter. She looked at her reflection in the vanity and sighed. Admittedly, she did look like she hadn't slept in a month, and she did look slightly pale. Maybe from the journey? She thought so. But as she looked longer in the mirror, her eyes showed more worry than before. "What am I going to do?" she asked herself. "Acting like he doesn't exist… my own brother… how am I going to do that?"

;-;-;-;-;-;

Elsewhere, in space, Duo watched the news report from inside his Gundam that Caitlin had returned home safely. That was the best thing he saw in a long time, but at the same time, he was concerned behind the small smile on his face. There was a lot that Caitlin had heard and saw in a month's time. It was hard for him to tell her to act as if he had never existed, but it was for her own safety. He couldn't simply let anything happen to her.

Duo looked at a monitor and saw her being ushered away with her fiancée. At least she was safe now, that and she was away from the bad stuff that was going on. He only hoped he could keep her away from what was going to happen. As it stood, he was a Gundam pilot, and if she was found to be associated with him, then they would go after her and force her into telling about him. And even Duo Maxwell himself didn't want to know just _what_ they'd do to her after she told them everything.

Duo had protected her for this long, and he was going to make damn sure that she was protected now.

Seeing a group of mobile suits outside brought Duo back to reality. The good thing was that Caitlin was safe. Now he just had to keep her that way.

And the only way to do that was to fight.

"Well, well," he said to himself. "I guess I'll have to say hi to them."

With that, he sliced through the shuttle, causing one of the suits to explode.

Inside one of the suits, an OZ soldier looked at his monitor. A Gundam? Oh, his superiors would be so pleased if he was to capture it.

But inside his Gundam, Duo was smiling. He finally got a chance to beat up OZ for the lies that they were telling.

"That's quite an honor greeting me with your latest model," Duo said, still smiling. "But let me warn you, anyone carelessly approaching is gonna die!"

"Taurus Mobile Dolls, attack!" the soldier ordered.

And what Duo had to see wasn't what he was expecting. These new suits were moving much faster than he originally thought. This wasn't going to go well. And the sad part was, Duo knew it.

"Damn it, they're fast!" he said to himself.

And getting attacked by them wasn't making the situation any better. It was clear that Duo was at a disadvantage.

"Well, that didn't work, either," Duo said to himself sarcastically. It wasn't making the situation any better, though. Everything Duo tried didn't seem to work. "Zero output, huh? Well, if Deathscythe's going down, then I don't have long myself." The things were going now, he didn't have long, but at the moment, he thought of his sister. Nothing else mattered unless his sister was safe. He smiled at the thought that his sister now was safe and away from what was going to happen now.

But still, he knew he wouldn't go down without a fight. And if it was a fight they wanted, then it was a fight they were going to get. After noticing his alerts, he realized that there was only one thing left to do. "But still, I'll die fighting!"

"Gundam, you were just lucky that I wasn't a Mobile Doll!" the soldier said. Killing the Gundam pilot would have been too easy, but maybe disabling the Gundam would be better. Oh, his superiors would be so pleased. And the colonists, too. With that, he aimed his laser at the Gundam's arm and blew it completely off.

At this point, there wasn't anything that Duo could do about it. Deathscythe wasn't functioning out in outer space, he couldn't move, and the worst of all was that he was completely defenseless. Duo looked at the self-denotation button and took a deep breath. Doing that would make sure that OZ wouldn't get their hands on Deathscythe, but then he thought of someone else… his sister. Who would protect her if he went through with it? He couldn't imagine seeing her with tears in her eyes, but at the same time, he couldn't simply let OZ have his Gundam. It was a hard choice for him to make, but at the moment, he just hoped that Caitlin would understand one day why he had to do it.

He reached over to open the self-denotation cover, thinking that it was the only way for him to do both. Maybe with him doing this, he'd keep OZ from Deathscythe and also protect his sister at the same time. He wished it didn't have to come down to this, but it couldn't be helped.

"I don't want to copy Heero, but…"

Inwardly, Duo knew he was doing the right thing. He just hoped that his little sister would understand. He opened the self-detonation cover and balled his hand into a fist. "Tag along, on my journey into Hell!"

With that, he slammed his fist sideways onto the button. He was expecting to feel himself being blown to pieces, but nothing happened. At all.

"Damn it," Duo said, hitting the button again. "Not my lucky day… Can't even self-detonate." As he thought more, he wondered if somehow someone was trying to stop him from going through with it. "Or maybe, I _am_ lucky…"

But in OZ's mind, they were lucky. They had finally captured a Gundam pilot. Now to get him back to the colony and find out what he knew.

;-;-;-;-;-;

In another shuttle, Trowa sat in the cockpit and had his arms crossed over his chest. He watched the report on how a Gundam pilot had been captured. He didn't know who he was. And at the moment, that wasn't important. What _was_ important was that that pilot screwed up.

"One of the Gundam mobile suits known for their destruction and threat of peace was shot down by OZ's Taurus units," the reporter was saying as footage of Duo being dragged away was being shown. "The Gundam pilot has been arrested, and the background on this pilot hasn't been confirmed, but OZ has said that the arrest will assist them in eradicating the rebels and their organizations. The colony governments have announced their cooperation in this matter."

"Are the people of the colonies so used to being controlled that nobody can see that the Gundams are the only allies they've got?" Trowa asked to himself. "Still, I have no choice left but to fight."

He pressed a button on the console and saw that he was too far away from that colony to do anything at the moment. He just had to sit tight for the time being. "Heero's headed there. He'll do something. I'm sure of it."

Meanwhile, on that same exact colony, Heero was sitting at a computer in the library. He wasn't surprised that OZ had started to change history to suit their own needs. "'After Colony 175… no major incidents within the colonies'?" he read to himself.

Yep, OZ had changed history.

"Even the assassination of the leader Heero Yuy was deleted… OZ hasn't changed one little bit." With that, Heero turned off the computer as he heard about Duo being captured. Knowing that Duo would likely open his mouth (more than he should), Heero had only one thing to do. _This isn't the right time to get involved,_ he thought. _All negative factors must be eliminated._

 _;-;-;-;-;-;_

Furthermore, at the Lane estate, Michael found Caitlin sitting under the gazebo. He was worried about her, considering that she hadn't said a thing about what had happened to her. But still, he hoped that she would be all right soon. What could have happened to her, he didn't know. But he wanted the people responsible to pay.

Caitlin sipped her tea, wondering just what she should do now. Siding with where her parents and fiancée stood made her feel sick to her stomach, but siding with the Gundams would only cause her own life to be in danger. Her brother was important to her, but before they left Singapore and went their separate ways, he had told her that acting as if he was her brother at this stage of the game would only put herself in jeopardy, something that he would never have allowed. Now the question was if Caitlin really could do the unthinkable… to simply disavow all knowledge of her brother's existence, for the sake of her own?

"Miss Caitlin?" Michael's voice broke through her thoughts.

Caitlin realized at that moment that she was crying and quickly dried her eyes with her hand. "Yes?" she asked.

"Are you all right, miss?"

"I'll be fine," Caitlin answered and had to quickly come back with a lie… at least a believable one. "I-Is this chamomile? I-I hadn't noticed until now…"

"Yes, miss. It must have been difficult not having these things while you were gone."

"It was," Caitlin replied. At least she had time to cover up the tears.

But that exchange was interrupted when a maid came outside to them, her eyes wide. "Miss Caitlin, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but there is some kind of news," she stated.

"News happens all the time, Marie," Michael answered. "Surely it can wait until…"

"It's all right," Caitlin spoke up, taking a deep breath with her hand raised slightly. "What is it?"

"OZ has captured a Gundam pilot," Marie answered.

"What?"

With that, the threesome headed into the living room where her parents and her fiancée were sitting on the couch, looking at the television.

"Following the capture of the mad scientists who were foes to the colonies and the people of Earth, one of the Gundams and its pilot has been captured," the reporter was saying on the television.

"They finally caught one," Marco was saying. "I hope his God can save him now."

As Caitlin looked at the screen, her heart seemed to drop to her stomach. The long braid, the black clothes… it was her own brother! Her hands flew to her open mouth and she started to feel worse than before. Why was he doing this? Why did he get himself captured, knowing there wasn't a single thing she could do to help him? _Brother, what have you done?_ she thought to herself. _Why did you have to go on and do this?_

Marshall stood up from the couch as he saw his daughter's wide eyes and went over to her to comfort her. "Caitlin, was that one of the people that kidnapped you?" he asked her. He knew she hadn't said much about what she had gone through, but he figured that anything she could say now would help him immensely.

Marco looked over at her before darting off the couch and racing to his fiancée. He gently wrapped his arms around her and wondered just what they had done to his beloved.

Caitlin shook her head, shivering despite the warmth inside the living room. "N-No," she stammered. "I-I was in a dark room or I was blindfolded when I left it. I never saw anyone. I'm sorry I can't help."

"It's all right," Marshall answered her. "As long as you're safe, that's all I care about."

Marco held her tighter and let Caitlin's head land onto his shoulder. Whoever hurt his fiancée would pay. And they would pay dearly. "Your father's right," Marco agreed. "Your safety is what is most important, love."

Caitlin simply watched the screen with wide eyes. She couldn't believe any of this was happening. Her brother had gotten himself captured by OZ, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

Not a single thing.

"What's going to happen to him?" Caitlin asked quietly.

Marco gently rubbed her back. "Whatever happens to him is what he deserves," he answered.

Caitlin's head remained on Marco's shoulder and she felt herself getting sick to her stomach again as she heard that the Gundam pilot's capture was a great success. How could those people be perfectly fine with this? It was almost too much for her to handle. She felt horrible and powerless. Why couldn't she do anything to help him?

Why couldn't she save her own brother?

;-;-;-;-;-;

In an OZ facility, Duo sat in a chair with his arms behind his back. Maybe fighting back in Deathscythe wasn't a smart idea. Now he found himself captured by the very same people that his sister was now at home with. Keeping her out of his mind would be easier than he wanted it to be; he wanted her safe at all costs. Even at the cost of his own life.

The person sitting at the desk didn't look to be over his mid-20s. And by all accounts, he thought that this kid was either foolish or stubborn. Perhaps both. "I wasn't expecting a Gundam pilot to be a kid," he said.

Duo would have jumped from the chair, except he was being held down by two other OZ soldiers. "Well, excuse me!" he came back. "So I've wounded your pride, have I?"

"That's nothing compared to the pain yours will suffer," the soldier answered with a smile. "You'll be executed. The people's feelings towards the execution will unite the colonies."

Duo only glared at him as he heard of his fate. But, in a way, Duo didn't care. He was willing to fight so no one else would have to. He knew it would come to this. Such as the fate of a Gundam pilot.

This was what he signed up for. He just didn't think he'd have a good reason to keep going. He had to keep going, not just for everyone around him, but also for Caitlin. He had to keep her safe, at all costs.

And that would be his main reason to keep going.

He felt himself being dragged away from the room. He couldn't do much more, but at the moment, he had to remember that she would be okay. She had to be okay now; she was safe in the colonies, and no one knew the truth of who she was. If he had to take a dozen more beatings, he knew it would be absolutely worth it.

The only thing that seemed to matter now was that she would never have to tell anyone who she was related to. She would be the safest girl in the colonies, if he had any say in the matter. It was actually the best thing for him to do.

The moment he felt himself landing onto the concrete floor was what jarred him from his reverie. Pain shot up his shoulder and he gritted his teeth for a moment. "Could have been a little more gentle," Duo grumbled under his breath.

He shouldn't have been complaining, though; his sister was safe and away from what he was having to deal with. Even if someone was to come and kill him right at that moment, he wouldn't care.

He just hoped that Caitlin was as good an actress as she was a singer at the moment. She would be the person they would talk with to try and get information out of her. Granted, she was scared for a while, but even he knew that she would be a sitting duck if she didn't pick a side to stay on. Being neutral would cost her everything she had.

Even her own brother.

Maybe even, her own life.

;-;-;-;-;-;

Marshall and Hannah looked at each other as they watched Caitlin sitting in the conservatory at the piano. Caitlin hadn't talked about what she had gone through, and it was worrying her parents more than before. What did she see? What happened to her?

"Perhaps the doctor is right," Marshall said to his wife. "Our daughter went through a terrible ordeal, and she just needs time to recover."

"She didn't even eat her cucumber sandwiches like she used to," Hannah added with a sigh. "And she's loved those when she was younger."

Marshall held his wife's hand while looking at Caitlin's somber face. It broke his heart to see her so depressed, so unable to get back to what she was doing before all of this happened. "I'll talk with her in a while," he said to his wife. "She shouldn't be doing any studies for a few days, anyway."

"I agree," his wife responded. She had never seen her so depressed. "Our poor daughter… what did she go through, I wonder…"

Caitlin looked at the sheet music in front of her before closing her eyes. The memory of a blond teenager who also liked music playing a song about seeing a light came to her mind. The same blond teenager who just so happened to be a Gundam pilot. What was it about him that made her feel at ease? Why did his gentle voice calm her down? Why were his eyes so peaceful in this time of war?

Why… was she thinking of him? A Gundam pilot, no less?

"Honey?"

Caitlin blinked, looking up and seeing her father sitting next to her on the piano bench. "F-Father, you startled me," she said.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I'm just wondering how you're doing…"

Caitlin wished she could lie. Just say she was okay and that be the end of the conversation, but she just couldn't. "Father?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Will things ever go back to normal?"

Marshall sighed. "In time, honey," he answered. "With war, things never truly return to the way things are completely."

 _You have no idea how right you are, Father,_ Caitlin thought. _My brother's a Gundam pilot, there's two men that care about me but I can't choose between them, and to top it all off, I have to act as if my brother never existed! I just wish things were the way things were before now… Before all of this happened. But that just sounds so stupid._

"I just… I can't get back into practicing…"

Marshall nodded his head. "It'll come back in time, dear," he answered gently, brushing her hair behind her ear. "You went through something terrible, and you need rest, more than anything."

"I can't rest, Father…"

"Yes, you can," Marshall said. "Your fans would want you to rest and regain your strength. Your fiancée just wants to see the girl he knew come back to him. And your family… we want you to take it easy on yourself. If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for those that love you."

What Marshall saw next nearly tore him to pieces. Caitlin had leaned against his shoulder and started to cry. "Now, Caitlin…" He tilted his daughter's head to look at her. Tears started to make their way down her cheeks. "What's wrong, honey?"

Caitlin sniffled. She couldn't possibly talk about her brother or the blond teenager to him. "I… I don't want to hurt Mr. Marco…" she said.

"He's just worried," Marshall said, smoothing her face gently. "You didn't hurt him at all. He just wanted you safe, sweetie."

"A-And… I couldn't see the men who took me… A-And I couldn't help with the investigation…"

"That's all right," he answered. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt." He looked at his daughter with a gentle smile. "Come now, there has to be something else…"

Caitlin sniffled. She couldn't let her father know what was really wrong with her, but at the same time, she was concerned about one thing. "Father… how did you know Mother was the one you wanted to marry?" she asked.

Marshall chuckled. _So that's what's been upsetting her?_ he thought. "Oh, Caitlin… when your mother and I were dating, she knew I was training for the Alliance," he answered. "She was a little older than you, sweetie. But… she was understanding. She knew I could die at any moment, but she didn't care. All she cared about was being with me. She'd call, and the sound of her voice… that showed me that she was the one."

"Her voice?" Caitlin asked.

"Not just that, but her personality. She was so warm and caring, kind of like you, Caitlin. And when Marco saw you, he told me he wanted to take care of you like I have for your mother. As a soldier, it's hard to find a good person like that. Such people are rarer than a rose without thorns."

"So… I'm a rose?" Caitlin tilted her head.

Marshall smiled at her. His little girl didn't need to make such an adult decision now. "All I'm saying, honey, is… whoever you want to be with, make sure you have their feelings back before you dive in. Know that there are people who could hurt you, that could take away that rare quality about you in a moment's notice. Choosing a person to marry is your own decision, sweetie. Yours and no one else's, okay?"

Caitlin tried to smile. "Okay, Father," she said.

Marshall hugged his daughter gently. "Now, don't you worry," he said. "Those men will never hurt my little girl."

The tender moment was interrupted when Marie knocked on the door.

"Master Lane, mistress, I think you should see this," Marie said, her voice filled with urgency.

Marshall and Caitlin both left the conservatory and walked into the living room, where Hannah and Marco both were watching the television. Michael was off to the side with Marie and watching everything unfold.

"What's going on?" Caitlin asked.

The bottom of the television screen answered her question: "Gundam Pilot Escapes OZ's Clutches."

"How could they have let him escape?" Hannah asked.

"What the hell were they doing?" Marco shouted.

All Caitlin could do was tune them out and watch the security video on the television. Alongside a boy with what looked to be brown hair was a very familiar boy with a long brown… braid? _Brother… you got away,_ she thought with an inward smile. _Keep going. Do what I can't. Do what you've always done: fight._

 _;-;-;-;-;-;_

(In the next chapter: Keeping secrets will keep you alive, but what happens when you're faced with situations you cannot control? After Duo's escape, Caitlin is left with no choice but to keep Duo a secret for her own survival. And Duo witnesses something that makes him scream in horror. Meanwhile, Quatre returns home, and things on his end don't get any better. Next, on Gundam Wing: Gemini, Chapter 6: Farewell to Innocence.)


End file.
